As the Federal Government intensifies efforts to resolve the lingering fuel crisis all over the country, the Minister of State and Group Manager Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu Thursday met with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMA) to resolve their lingering crisis and boost distribution of petrol across the country.
According to the statement from the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Garba Deen Mohammed, the Minister invited all stakeholders within the IPMAN hierarchy to his office at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, where he raised a 14-man committee charged with the task of doing everything possible “to bring back peace to the association at the national, zonal and depot levels.”
The NNPC spokesperson stated that the Minister noted that as critical stakeholders in the downstream sector, the contribution of IPMAN is crucial in the drive to end the prevailing fuel supply situation across the nation.
According to Mohammed, the minister called on all IPMAN members to see the Association as one indivisible entity, as he charged them to work with relevant government agencies such as the NNPC, DPR and other stakeholders to ensure that the prevailing fuel scarcity “becomes a thing of the past as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is putting in place plans to increase the nation’s refining capacity from 445,000 barrels per day to 650,000.
This was contained in a statement released by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Garba Deen Mohammed after an opening of the technical bid for the location of new refineries within the existing refineries in the country.
Speaking at the event, the NNPC Chief Operating Officer (COOy Refineries Mr. Anibo Kragha stated that the Corporation was committed to boosting the nation’s refining capacity which in turn would put an end to perennial fuel scarcity in the country.
According to him, the open bidding exercise was a demonstration of the determination of the federal government and the NNPC to increase the nation’s refining capacity.
He said: “The aim is to leverage on the existing facilities to fast track the take-off of the refineries as soon as possible”.
