15 December 2011, Sweetcrude, ABUJA – Nigeria’s Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has issued new set of regulations for importation of petroleum products into the country.
The agency said all oil marketers operating in the country must adhere to the new set of guidelines, which it described as efficiency-driven.
Mr. Reginald Stanley, Executive Secretary of PPPRA, said the guidelines will come into effect in Quarter 4, the next window for importation of petroleum products into the country.
He said the set of rules had been designed to ensure uninterrupted petroleum products flow across Nigeria in the coming year.
Addressing journalists on the outcome of its meeting with operators in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector Wednesday in Abuja, Stanley explained that the new guidelines, though, not entirely new as they have existed in PPPRA’s overall guidelines for importation and distribution of petroleum products, will further afford the agency a firmer grip of activities in the downstream sector.
He stated that with the new rules, all to him, all allocation permits would be based on performance and capability of marketers, while only marketers with depots are to be issued import permits.
Also, an international independent cargo inspector will be engaged by the agency to ensure efficiency and transparency in the discharge of products from cargoes.
Other aspects of the guideline as disclosed by Stanley include the introduction of ‘lay day cancelling date’ (LAYCAN) – a space period provided for discharge of products, enforcement of three tier inspection mode at all depots: arrival quantity, discharge quantity and truck-out quantity fully reconciled with industry tolerance, enforcement of daily opening and closing stocks of all terminals by independent inspectors who is also expected to chain all Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in-let discharge valves after completion of discharge and open only when the next cargo arrives.
Also, the guidelines specify that marketers granted importation permits in Quarter three (Q3), but failed to fulfil their expected obligations by the end of 2011, stands to be severely sanctioned by the agency which has also shortlisted 42 marketers to participate in Q4 importation window. The identity of the shortlisted marketers was however not disclosed.
“As a major stakeholder at the forefront of ensuring uninterrupted supply and distribution of petroleum products, government and the general public expects from us pragmatic solutions to the perennial scarcity of petroleum products especially during this festive period when consumption increases astronomically,” Stanley said.
