By Obas Esiedesa
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has assured consumers that there is enough petroleum products in stock to cover the next 40 days despite the fears caused by the outbreak of Coronavirus.
The agency in a statement by the Executive Secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu on Sunday said despite the fears of slowing global demand for crude oil, report on products availability indicates that the average PMS (petrol) Days Sufficiency in January was 41.34 days, AGO (diesel), 45.04 days, HHK (kerosene), 9.36 days, while ATK and LPFO were 53.73 and 33.75 days respectively.
Saidu explained that the PPPRA January 2020 report on Oil and Gas sector operations showed that the national supply of PMS was 1,828.62 billion litres, while Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) were 423.27 million litres and 96.70 million litres respectively.
He noted that a similar report highlighting activities of the agency for week 21st – 27th February, 2020 revealed that the average days Sufficiency stood at 42.28 days for PMS, AGO was 44.73 days while HHK was 20.36 days and ATK 36.22 days.
“During the week in view, the total volume of PMS and AGO discharged were 551.01 million litres and 84.84 million litres respectively”, he added.
PPPRA also stated that crude oil prices in January averaged $63.51, $64.06 and $58.29 per barrel for Brent, Bonny and WTI respectively, as against the December average prices of $67.02, $65.94 and $60.67 per barrel.
“Available data for week 4 of February 2020 indicated declines in the prices of Brent, Bonny and WTI, which averaged$57.17, $57.14 and $52.86 per barrel respectively”.
According to him, the report showed that constant monitoring of products supply and distribution by the agency as well as the entrenchment of responsive pricing policy through monitoring of trends in market fundamentals and updating pricing template contributed to product availability nationwide.
In addition, he explained, sharp practices by some operators were greatly reduced as a result of vessel tracking, efficient scheduling and monitoring by PPPRA independent cargo surveyors and field operatives.
The PPPRA boss said the agency also ensured that the NNPC and other marketers maintained strict compliance to approved guidelines for importation of petroleum products.
He therefore reassured the public that it would continue to work with other relevant stakeholders towards maintaining efficient petroleum products supply in the country.
