19 December 2011, Sweetcrude, ABUJA – The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has warned Nigeria’s oil marketing companies against hoarding of petroleum products.
Mr. Reginald Stanley, executive secretary of the agency sent out the caution at the weekend in Abuja at a forum with newsmen and industry stakeholders, as he announced that the PPPRA had introduced a new measure that would see Nigerians reaping the benefits of current reforms in the downstream sector.
“Already, there are reported cases of queues and sharp practices at some filling stations, largely because of the anticipated pronouncement that government will announce the commencement of deregulation policy,” he said, empasizing that “this does not show patriotism because every Nigerian must realise that nation building requires sincerity and unity of purpose to bring lasting happiness to everyone in our great country.”
Assuring that the agency was working with other stakeholders to prevent petroleum products scarcity, especially during this yuletide season, he disclosed that fuel importation would from now on, be more transparent to prevent government and Nigerians being short-changed and that the government was out to ensure a downstream sector devoid of cartel.
According to him, “the role of the regulator is to ensure transparency and disallow malpractices so that Nigerians are not short-changed,” he said, even as he stressed the need for marketers to adhere strictly to the new operational guidelines in their allocation for the fourth quarter of the year.”
He maintained that allocation of import permit would henceforth be based on performance and that only oil marketers with depots in the country would be issued with such permits.
Stanley said the agency was collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance to ensure that marketers get foreign exchange credit facilities to finance petroleum products importation.
