The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the recent improvement in supplies of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) popularly known as diesel has forced the market price to fall from N300 per litre to about N160 naira per litre across major cities in Nigeria.
The Corporation stated this in a statement signed on Sunday by its Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Mr Ndu Ugamadu.
“It would be recalled that the price of AGO crashed by about 42% nationwide, a huge downslide over the last six months, following key strategic interventions by the NNPC. In the first quarter 2017, retail prices of AGO, which is one of the deregulated products, shot up to an all-time high of N300 per litre in major demand centres across the country. The unpleasant situation placed a huge burden on truck drivers who use the product as fuel for their vehicles and the nation’s manufacturing sector which requires it to run its operations, as well as on the masses who need it for household power generation. NNPC’s interventions included sustained improvement in the supply of the product and remodelling of the product distribution channels to address sufficiency issues across the country,” the statement read.
Another intervention by the NNPC to ensure a reception and availability of the products was strategic engagements with major stakeholders in the petroleum sector.
It said it has also taken steps to resuscitate some of its critical pipelines and depots for enhanced distribution of diesel across the country.
“Another area of intervention that has enhanced supply and distribution of diesel is the corporation’s robust engagement with critical downstream stakeholders such as Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) as well as Independent Petroleum Marketers, leading to the resolution of salient issues. The corporation has also taken huge steps to resuscitate some of its critical pipelines and depots such as the Atlas Cove – Mosimi Depot Pipeline, Port-Harcourt Refinery – Aba Depot Pipeline, Kaduna – Kano Pipeline and the Kano Depot, which have enhanced efficiency in the distribution of AGO. Efforts are also ongoing to revamp and re-commission other critical pipelines and depots across the country,” the Corporation added.
The NNPC further disclosed that it has achieved the expansion of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Foreign Exchange Intervention Scheme to accommodate diesel and aviation fuel, following consistent positive engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
