Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. (NNPC) has urged motorists to avoid panic buying for petrol saying it has stocks sufficient for over 30 days.
NNPC had more than 1.5 billion liters of premium motor spirit (PMS) as of this week according to a company statement.
“In filling stations monitored across several states, including Lagos and the FCT [Federal Capital Territory], the queues have since thinned out, a development that will keep improving daily in other states”, the statement assured.
“The NNPC Ltd is also collaborating with relevant downstream agencies, such as the Nigeran Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), labor unions in the sector and security operatives to address hoarding and other unwholesome practices”, NNPC added.
The NMDPRA previously dismissed concerns of fuel shortage following the new administration’s removal of a fuel subsidy last year, partially reinstated later. In his inaugural address last May, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the decision as part of efforts to lighten financial burdens on the government.
“We are working closely with NNPC Limited and other key stakeholders to guarantee a smooth transition, avoid supply disruptions, and ensure that consumers are not shortchanged in any form”, the NMDPRA said in a statement May 30, 2023.
“The Authority assures that there is ample supply of PMS to meet demand as we have taken necessary steps to ensure distribution channels remain uninterrupted and fuel is readily available at all filling stations across the country.
“Therefore, we call on Nigerians to remain calm and resist the urge to stockpile as it poses a significant safety hazard. In the same vein, Operators are advised to refrain from hoarding petrol and causing hardship”.
However, in response to rising costs of living, the Tinubu government reimplemented in part the fuel subsidy, the International Monetary Fund confirmed in a financing assessment report February 9, 2024. The administration “capped retail fuel and electricity prices—thus partially reversing the fuel subsidy removal”, the United Nations lender said.
In a welcome development for oil supply NNPC and its partners recently put into production the Madu field and returned the Awoba field online, adding a combined 32,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the West African country’s output capacity.
Madu is expected to average 20,000 bpd, NNPC said in a press release April 19, 2024. It is part of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 85, an area in shallow waters off Bayelsa State operated by FIRST Exploration & Petroleum Development Co. Ltd. (FIRST E&P).
“Madu Oil Field has significant oil, gas, and condensate resources in multiple-stacked reservoirs”, FIRST E&P said in a separate announcement. It sits 23 kilometers northwest of the Anyala field under OML 83, which is also held by the NNPC-FIRST E&P joint venture. FIRST E&P operates both licenses with a 40 percent working stake.
FIRST E&P expects Madu and Anyala to ramp up to a combined 60,000 bpd. The two fields are estimated to hold 581 million stock tank barrels of oil and 1.11 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to information from the operator's website.
Meanwhile, Awoba restarted production at an initial rate of 8,000 bpd, NNPC said in a news release Apil 23. Production is expected to scale up to as much as 12,000 bpd within a few weeks.
“Besides the recent start of production at the Madu Field by the NNPC Ltd/First E&P JV, the company has achieved the restart of production at OMLs 29 and OML 18 in late 2023 which have steadily contributed an average of 60,000bpd to the nation’s production output since their restart”, NNPC said announcing the Awoba restart.
Awoba, operated by Newcross Exploration & Production Ltd. through OML 24, shut down February 2022 “due to evacuation issues and crude oil theft”, while its last supply to the Bonny oil and gas terminal was in 2021, NNPC recalled. The OML 24 area is in the mangrove swamp south of Rivers State’s Port Harcourt, where a refinery processes oil from the terminal.
Awoba is expected to “significantly boost gas supply to the power sector and other gas-based industries”, NNPC said.
Oil supply to the Port Harcourt refinery recently resumed, when Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. delivered 475,000 barrels, as announced by the Shell PLC subsidiary February 12, 2024.
“The crude supply resumed early in the year after a prolonged outage of over five years, during which time the refinery underwent rehabilitation and integrity activities on its supply pipeline from the terminal”, Shell said at the time.
The refinery has a total crude distillation capacity of 210,000 bpd at two plants, according to online information from the Bureau of Public Enterprises in Abuja.
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