By Chioma Iruke
Nigerians have been assured by the country’s petroleum regulatory body that there will be no hitch in the supply of petroleum products under the current administration.
Group Managing Director of the commercialized Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) Mele Kyari, gave the assurance while speaking at the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) 2021 Strategic International Conference on Tuesday.
“As we speak now, there is speculation of fuel scarcity within the media but we have over 1.7 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit in the country.
“We have another 2.3 billion litres coming in so there is no shortage in supply as being speculated.
“Of course there are issues about pricing at some depots but the government has no plan to revise the pricing structure,” Mr Kyari stated.
He said the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, highlights the challenges faced by Nigeria and other African countries in the global energy transition.
My Kyari noted that though Africa accounted for only about three percent of the global carbon emission, the continent still had the responsibility to join the world in combating climate change.
According to him, Nigeria has identified its abundant gas resource as its fuel for energy transition, which informed the declaration of the Year 2021 to Year 2030 as the Decade of Gas by the government.
“We are making good progress in terms of the implementation of the PIA which is creating the path for transition.
“There is no way we can achieve this feat without adequate infrastructure to transport the resources to where it will be used and that is why we are investing in massive gas infrastructure,” he added.
He said the projects included the Obiafu-Obrikon-Oben (OB3) and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipelines, which would deepen gas utilisation in the country.
The Nigerian Government had recently announced that the state-owned oil firm (NNPC) is set to turn to a commercial entity, as it will become a limited liability company within the next six months.
This followed the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 16, 2021, after it had been passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly in July.
