Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has assured consumers that the entry of coronavirus in Nigeria will not result into scarcity of petroleum products as there are enough in stock to cover for the next 40 days.
The deadly disease, now present in over 50 countries, has affected sales of commodities at the markets, with Nigeria recording its first case on Thursday, February 27 from an Italian national who came into the country from Turkey.
In a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the agency, Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, over the weekend, the PPPRA said despite the fears of slowing global demand for crude oil, there won’t be scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which in commonly referred to as petrol, in the country. The agency said it has a sufficiency of 41.34 days.
The PPPRA further said for Automotive Gas Oil, (AGO or diesel), it has for 45.04 days; Household kerosene for domestic use (HHK or kerosene) has 9.36 days; Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) has 53.73 days; while Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) has 33.75 days.
Mr Saidu explained that the PPPRA January 2020 report on Oil and Gas sector operations showed that the national supply of PMS was 1.8 billion litres, while AGO and ATK were 423.27 million litres and 96.70 million litres respectively.
He noted that a similar report highlighting activities of the agency for week 4, (21 – 27 February, 2020) revealed that the average days sufficiency stood at 42.28 days for PMS, AGO was 44.73 days while HHK was 20.36 days and ATK 36.22 days.
“During the week in view, the total volume of PMS and AGO discharged were 551.01 million litres and 84.84 million litres respectively,” he added.
PPPRA also stated that crude oil prices in January averaged $63.51, $64.06 and $58.29 per barrel for Brent, Bonny and WTI respectively, as against the December average prices of $67.02, $65.94 and $60.67 per barrel.
“Available data for week 4 of February 2020 indicated declines in the prices of Brent, Bonny and WTI, which averaged$57.17, $57.14 and $52.86 per barrel respectively”.
The PPPRA Chief said the agency also ensured that the NNPC and other marketers maintained strict compliance to approved guidelines for importation of petroleum products.
He, therefore, reassured the public that it would continue to work with other relevant stakeholders towards maintaining efficient petroleum products supply in the country adding that efforts were taken to ensure to combat anything that could affect availability.
