The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that the scarcity of aviation fuel has more to do with the inability of airlines to pay for the product than its purported scarcity.
The Corporation said the introduction of the cash-and-carry policy by marketers as a result of the huge debts being owed by the airlines was the main cause of the scarcity.
NNPC’s group managing director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who spoke when the management of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), visited the corporation, said NNPC had taken steps to ensure adequate supply of the product with the importation of over 45 million litres.
He also said the monetisation of natural gas was a cardinal mandate of the Corporation, and expressed its commitment to carry on with the Brass LNG and OK LNG, saying the two projects were high priority gas entities which promise to boost revenue to the federal government.
Baru praised the management of NTA for its factual reportage of the corporation’s activities.
He urged NTA to help in enlightening the public on the dangers of pipeline vandalism, which long-term impact on the environment far outweighs whatever short-term gain the perpetrators may be seeking.
Speaking earlier the director general of NTA, Malam Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, said the visit was in continuation of the Authority’s resolve to liaise constantly with other government agencies it collaborates with regularly and with which they share the objective of furthering the interest of the country.
“The NNPC and NTA have come a long way. Our relationship has continued to wax stronger and stronger and it is my desire to ensure that during my stint as DG of NTA, we take this relationship to a greater height,” he said.
Later in a statement, NNPC’s group general manager, group public affairs division, Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement quoted Baru as saying: “We are still committed to monetising our natural gas. We have the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) which is at the moment monetising about four billion standard cubic feet of gas on a daily basis We also have plans for Olokola LNG as well as Brass LNG.
“We have a little challenge with market windows for these projects which we are reviewing on a monthly basis. Once the appropriate market window opens up, we will quickly get more shareholders to join us for the projects.”
He said a meeting of Brass LNG stakeholders had been scheduled for early next year to chart the way forward for the project, adding that apart from the LNG projects, NNPC was also working on gas monetisation through aggressive enhancement of domestic gas supply for power generation and industrial use.
SOURCE: UPSHOT REPORTS
