The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday
insisted that the recent increase in bridging allowance to transporters
from N6.20 to N7.20 per litre did not auttomatically translate to hike
in the pump price of petrol as the price remains N145 per litre.
Providing the clarification in Abuja yeterday, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), in charge of Downstream Operations of the corporation, Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, said there was no plan by government or any of its agencies to review the pump price of petrol above N145 per litre.
He explained that the rise in the bridging cost was achieved after an adjustment was made in the “lightering expenses” from N4 to N3 per litre and the difference transferred to compensate for the cost of bridging within the same template.
The bridging allowance refers to the cost element built into the products pricing template to ensure a uniform price of petrol across the country, while lightering expenses involve charges for moving products to depot area from mother vessels by light vessels due to the inability of the former to berth in shallow water depth.
“What happened in simple language, is a rebalancing of the margins allowed and approved for stakeholders. What the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), did was to take N1 from lightering expenses and add same to the bridging allowance. That is how we arrived at N7.20. Therefore, PMS remains at the ceiling of N145 per litre.”
He said as at today, the country had 1.3billion litres of petrol, which translated to an inventory of 36 days:
“What this means is that even if we stop importation or refining of petrol right now, we have enough products in-country to provide for the needs of every Nigerian for a period of 36 days.”
Obih noted that the supply availability was bolstered with the production of petrol from the three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
“There is absolutely no risk of shortage in supply as we also continue to import to support the production from the refineries, we have informed the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to enforce the prevailing N145 per litre price regime and also ensure that every service station that has fuel is selling to the public,’’ he said.
The COO reiterated the readiness of the NNPC to sustain the existing cordial relations between the NNPC and the leadership of the downstream industry unions and other stakeholders.
He said the DPR, which is the regulatory arm of the industry had been alerted to sanction fuel station owners who engage in hoarding or charge consumers in excess of the approved pump price of petrol.
Providing the clarification in Abuja yeterday, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), in charge of Downstream Operations of the corporation, Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, said there was no plan by government or any of its agencies to review the pump price of petrol above N145 per litre.
He explained that the rise in the bridging cost was achieved after an adjustment was made in the “lightering expenses” from N4 to N3 per litre and the difference transferred to compensate for the cost of bridging within the same template.
The bridging allowance refers to the cost element built into the products pricing template to ensure a uniform price of petrol across the country, while lightering expenses involve charges for moving products to depot area from mother vessels by light vessels due to the inability of the former to berth in shallow water depth.
“What happened in simple language, is a rebalancing of the margins allowed and approved for stakeholders. What the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), did was to take N1 from lightering expenses and add same to the bridging allowance. That is how we arrived at N7.20. Therefore, PMS remains at the ceiling of N145 per litre.”
He said as at today, the country had 1.3billion litres of petrol, which translated to an inventory of 36 days:
“What this means is that even if we stop importation or refining of petrol right now, we have enough products in-country to provide for the needs of every Nigerian for a period of 36 days.”
Obih noted that the supply availability was bolstered with the production of petrol from the three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
“There is absolutely no risk of shortage in supply as we also continue to import to support the production from the refineries, we have informed the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to enforce the prevailing N145 per litre price regime and also ensure that every service station that has fuel is selling to the public,’’ he said.
The COO reiterated the readiness of the NNPC to sustain the existing cordial relations between the NNPC and the leadership of the downstream industry unions and other stakeholders.
He said the DPR, which is the regulatory arm of the industry had been alerted to sanction fuel station owners who engage in hoarding or charge consumers in excess of the approved pump price of petrol.
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