Oil marketers meet NNPC, others seek to resume petrol importation

The three major oil marketers associations in Nigeria, Tuesday met with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and expressed their willingness to resume importation of petroleum products, especially petrol.

It was learnt in Abuja that the marketers – Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPMA), and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), were present at the meeting which held at the NNPC headquarters.

As reported, the NNPC has for several months remained the major importer of petrol into the country because of the inability of oil marketers to access foreign exchange at affordable rates to import the commodity.

The corporation in its December 2016 financial and operations report stated that in spite of the liberalisation of the downstream sector and government’s intervention to ease marketers’ access to foreign exchange for products importation, it remained the major importer of petroleum products.
But to supplement products’ importation and lessen the burden on the NNPC for unhindered supplies, the paper learnt that the oil marketers associations met with the corporation and other relevant government agencies to iron out issues that pertain to their operations.

Some of the marketers who attended the meeting told THISDAY that they met to impress it on the corporation that it was important they, especially MOMAN and DAPMA restart products importation to curtail possible resurgence of products scarcity and distribution challenges.

One of the marketers who is a member of MOMAN said that members of the association had been distributing products they lifted from the NNPC, but that it was time they resumed importation.
While pleading for anonymity, he stated that the meeting lasted several hours and in two batches between the major marketers and IPMAN which has now reconciled their lingering leadership troubles.