Diezani Visits Oil Installations In Delta As Price of Petrol Tops N200 Per Liter

… Strategic Reserve To Be Pumped To Ease Scarcity

WARRI, February 16, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke Thursday toured several oil installations in Warri, Delta State just as the price of petrol topped N200 in Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers States and various locations in the country due to the scarcity of the product and the re-emergence of long queues at petrol stations.

Diezani however allayed fears and assured that the scarcity and long queues would soon be history in the oil rich nation explaining that the shortage of petrol was occasioned by the uncertainties surrounding the inclusion of subsidy payments to importers of fuel in the 2012 budget appropriation. She said the uncertainties forced importers to drastically reduce the quantity of petrol imported for local consumption, adding that importation would soon begin in full scale now that grey areas have been cleared.

She said the petrol in the nation’s strategic reserve would be released as a stopgap measure in order to ensure that the product is readily available for purchase at fueling stations.

The Minister gave the assurance during a brief chat with correspondents at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), while inspecting the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) installations in Delta State.

“In the interim, the strategic reserves of the NNPC would be opened and PMS pumped out in order to bridge the gap caused by the temporary scarcity of the product,” the Minister stated.

Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who flew into Warri at 10.am via the Osubi Airstrip on board a jet marked OE-ILI was accompanied by top petroleum ministry officials for the tour that that lasted for about 8 hours.

Her entourage had the Group Executive Director (GED), Exploration and Production, Mr. Andy Yakubu; the GED in charge of Refining and Petrochemical, Mr. Philip Chukwu; the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Osten Olorunshola; and, the Group Media Affairs Director, Dr Livi Ajuonoma. They were met by top local officials of the Ministry deployed to Delta State and senior staffers of Chevron.

The facilities toured include the multi-billion dollar Escravos Gas-To-Liquid (EGTL), a joint venture deal between the NNPC and the American oil giant, Chevron, which is currently under construction; the Petrol Pricing and Marketing Company (PPMC) Warri Depot, the state-of-the-art PPMC waterfront loading jetty at Ijala village near Warri in Warri South Local Government Area and the production line of the Warri refinery.