NIPCO cushions fuel agony, imports 37m litres

NIPCO Plc has scaled up efforts at cushioning the agony which the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol has inflicted on Nigerians by importing 28 million metric tons (37million litres) and also loaded fuel for over 1,500 trucks.

An import manifest from the nation’s premier port in Apapa showed that the cargo which contained the consignment (fuel) arrived the country via MT Admiral L at Apapa jetty last week.

The 28 million metric tons fuel cargo has started to discharge and this will augment what the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) brought in to save the situation.

Lawal Taofeek ,Manager, Corporate Affairs of Nipco, confirmed in a telephone chat that the company has begun importation.

NIPCO, according to Lawal, took this bold step of importing at this period in the nation’s history based on its avowed belief in the resilience of the economy “and we will remain an ally in ensuring availability of fuel across the nation.”

Meanwhile, checks on the NIPCO’s terminal showed that the over 1, 500 trucks have already lifted the product from the depot.

“This is because this depot like a few others has been working round the clock to dispense product to marketers after they must have concluded clearances from all the relevant government agencies,” Lawal said, adding that the new “consignment will definitely aid the flow of products to marketer’s outlets across the nooks and crannies of the country.”

He continued: “The cargo is one of the consignment the company ordered for as part of its role in ensuring continuous availability of petrol not only in its hundreds of branded outlets in Nigeria but also in other marketing outlets taking products from the depot.”

According to him, truck out of products have continued ceaselessly in a bid to ensure that the type of agonies the populace faced last week does not repeat itself again stressing that “we would not relent in this onerous responsibility in line with our mission of meeting the needs of all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.“

Already, barely a week after the commencement of loading at the terminal about one thousand five hundred trucks laden with PMS had left the terminal for filling stations across Nigeria to ease the agony of scarcity.