The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that Kaduna
Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) has commenced daily production
of 3.2 million litres of petrol.
A statement by the NNPC confirmed that the plant which commenced
production over the weekend with an initial PMS yield of about 1.5 million
litres had ramped up its daily yield to 3.2 million litres.
It said: “The injection of this volume into the system will significantly
impact ongoing special intervention efforts designed to bring relief to
motorists across the country.”
The statement added that less than 48 hours after the minister of state for
petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, ordered staff of the NNPC to
intervene in the monitoring of fuel distribution and retail system at
filling stations across the country, the initiative had started yielding
positive results in Abuja and environs.
“The situation at most filling stations visited in Abuja remains calm and
orderly as the staff of the corporation helped to fast-track the process
of dispensing fuel to motorists in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
The statement quoted the Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment
of the NNPC, Dr. Babatunde Victor Adeniran, as saying the exercise had
recorded some success so fare.
“Our staff are putting in all their best to ensure that orderliness is
restored in most of the filling stations. They are also there to ensure
that nobody creates a situation that will hamper the discharge of products
to ordinary Nigerians. So far, they are doing well in this regard.”
He explained that the exercise was a hands-on approach designed to ensure
that Nigerians do not suffer unnecessarily at the hands of unscrupulous
marketers, adding that the situation would be improved upon.
He also called on security agencies to complement the efforts of NNPC at
the filling stations.
“At one of the filling stations in Asokoro today, the police came to
assist us to clear out some motorists trying to jump the queue. That is
most commendable.”
Dr. Adeniran further urged Nigerians to cooperate with the NNPC and ensure
the success of the initiative by being law-abiding and orderly to avoid
chaotic situations at the filling stations.
“I hope Nigerians can have the spirit of orderliness, the spirit of
cohesion and the spirit of responsibility in order to help this process.”
It would be recalled that on Monday while addressing an emergency meeting
of senior staff of the corporation, the minister ordered the deployment of
NNPC staff to filling stations across the country for effective monitoring
of the distribution system.
Dr. Kachikwu assured that there was sufficient petrol for Nigerians and
again appealed to motorists to desist from panic purchases and warned that
unscrupulous marketers who either hoard or divert products would
henceforth be treated as economic saboteurs.