.NNPC currently sole importer of fuel- Kachikwu
As fuel scarcity persist across the country, the minister of state for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has said that he is presently engaging Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the possibility of making foreign exchange available to oil marketers to enable them continue importation of petrol.
The minister who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday during a monitoring tour of petrol stations, said the move would ease the burden on the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is presently the sole importer of the product. Other marketers have since stopped importation of petrol citing difficulty in accessing forex.
According to Kachikwu, the ongoing talks with the CBN would help ease marketers access to forex and consequently improve the fuel supply situation in the country, which he notes is already beginning to weigh in on the capacity of the NNPC to satisfy the country's 40 million litres per day consumption.
"Whilst majors are really not bringing in products, we are working on long term solutions so they now begin to go back to importation lanes and be able to service their own outlets rather than us servicing them and servicing everybody because it is a lot of wear and tear on our capability status," he said.
Kachikwu however, expressed hopes that the lingering scarcity would ease off within two days following the NNPC's massive increase of petrol truck-out to depots and filling stations in the country. He said the NNPC is flooding Abuja with over 300 trucks, adding that he is hopeful the queues will clear off in about two days.
While hinting that he would initiate a long term solution to curb the resurgence of fuel scarcity in the country, He said, "We are obviously not getting it as well as we should. Again, I apologise to Nigerians for all the pains, nobody wants to see people spend up to two hours on fuel queues.
