A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
Nigerians may witness acute shortage of fuel soon, if the N6billion to N7billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL) requested from marketers before they can lift fuel is anything to by, the News Mirror has learnt.
This amount, industry sources is in addition to the payment already made before the increase in the price of Petrol.
Sources further said that if this amount is paid, the idea would balance up the financial requirement from the marketers to complete the transactions and then supply fuel to the public.
Presently, many marketers have exhausted the fuel they have in their depots and want to replenish them, but, with this development, some of them are having an uphill task in doing so as they are not able to raise the necessary money yet to pay NNPCL.
It was gathered that some of the oil companies have already lost money to ship owners that have been paid but could not do trans-shipment on account of the marketer’s inability to make the necessary payment yet.
This matter is made worse by the inability of banks to look at the sides of the marketers, considering their experiences in the the sector sometimes ago.
Recall that many banks at a point, were finding it difficult to recoup the loans given to marketers in the industry, a development, which sent signals to them not to fiddle with depositors' funds, which form a major part of their investments.
With the industry stakeholders, especially marketers facing this problem amid difficulties in getting out of it, issues bordering on subsidy payment and its suspension, outrightly, cropped up to compound the sector's woes.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the 16th Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, added to this problem in its innugral address on May 29th this year, when he reiterated plans to remove subsidies, which the government has sunk billion of naira into year-in year out.
Expectedly, Nigerians, reacted negatively to this address. Not only did marketers sell fuel at a very extirbitant prices, NNPCL, which remains the State Company, came out with new price regime, a development, which led to the sale of fuel at N500 per litre with its attendant challenges.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government and the leadership of Organised Labour such as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress ( TUC) are yet to end the rifts between them.
Comments
Post a Comment