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A leading arm of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has put its weight behind the call for a hike in the pump price of petroleum products. It reasoned that, the current price of crude oil in the international market, calls for a little increase in their pump price. It further explained that a greater percentage of fuel being used in the country was imported and the difference between the local price and the international market cost the Federal Government a fortune. The chamber also revealed that oil smuggling has turned some Nigerians and foreign collaborators into over night millionaires. It would also be recalled that the leading petroleum products marketing firms recently canvassed for a hike in the pump price of petrol from the current rate of N26 to N37 per litre. The major oil marketers had given the huge price hike as the only condition for their return to the business of importing petroleum products into the country. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has been the sole importer of fuel into the country since crude oil prices escalated beyond the $30 range per barrel

The clamour for an increase in the fuel pump price in Nigeria is not new. The reason always given for successive increases in the price of fuel is the same, but the succour they claim the increment will bring in terms of availability of fuel, is never met. The latest call is ill-timed and ill-advised as the general elections are just around the corner. Any increase now can cause eruptions within the system and this will not augur well for this crucial civilian-to-civilian transition in the country. The workers can embark on a nationwide strike. This will heat up the polity and have deleterious effect on our nascent democratic experiment

Similarly, why is it that, it is the citizenry that always bear the brunt of government’s inaction? They cannot be blamed for smuggling, and since there are agencies specifically responsible for curtailing this like the police, customs, immigration, armed forces as well as other security agents. Government can effectively and decisively deal with smuggling. Also, Nigerians are already experiencing economic hardship and any increase now will further put pressure on them. Again, it will lead to a corresponding increase in the prices of goods and services, and lead to inflation. This is not in the best interest of the country

It is for this reason that, we commend President Olusegun Obasanjo for explaining the reason for the current fuel shortage of fuel in country, which according to him, has to do with the on-going crises in Iraq and Venezuela as well as the stockpiling of fuel by the United States. He further explained that, some countries which signed agreements with Nigeria on fuel supply reneged because the price at which the agreements were signed was not as high as it is now. More importantly, is the fact that, the President apologised to Nigerians over the problem and pledged to restore normalcy in the supply and distribution of the commodity nationwide within the next one week

We call on the major oil marketers to be patrotic and think about the national interest of the country rather than their immediate short term gains. Hence, they should cooperate with government to end the fuel scarcity instead of the call for increase in fuel price. It is also imperative for the NNPC to attend to the issue of Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries so that, we can locally refine petroleum products in Nigeria, for adequate internal consumption and export for the international market. That is why it is important that, government take a second look at the NNPC, restucture it, and make it more productive and accountable. The option of privatisation of refineries should also be seriously considered. Government should take bold steps to block the numerous leakages in the oil sector, while concerted efforts should be made to genuinely and promptly develop the non-oil products in the country

It goes without saying that, there are problems in the oil sector and government has taken a lot of things for granted over the years in this very crucial sector of the national economy. Now, is the time to really put things right and give priority attention to oil which accounts for about 85 per cent of the country’s revenue annually.

www.bday.co.za   LAGOS - Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched a gigantic bitumen production project in the southwest Ode-Irele region in a bid to diversify the country's sources of foreign exchange.

Nigeria, the world's sixth largest oil exporter, currently derives more than 95 percent of its foreign currency earnings from petroleum.

The commercial project launched on Monday signalled the commencement of the exploitation of massive deposits of bituminous tarsand, reputed to be second only to those of Venezuela, officials said.

The country's bitumen deposits are located in four southwest states of Edo, Ogun, Ondo and Lagos, according to geo-physical surveys carried out more than a century ago when they was first discovered by Germans.

Nigeria is believed to have at least 42 billion barrels of bitumen reserves.

Obasanjo said that the country would reap great benefits from commercial exploitation of bitumen such as employment, foreign exchange and development of infrastructure.

It is expected that more than 20,000 workers will be employed before the end of July for bitumen exploration, chairman of the Bitumen Exploration and Exploitation Company Nigeria Limited Olu Edegboro told journalists.

Bitumen is used for for road construction, the production of fuel oil and petrochemicals.

allafrica.com Vanguard (Lagos) March 18, 2003 Posted to the web March 18, 2003 Hector Igbikiowubo

Amidst persisting supply hic-ups at filling stations across the country, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Committee (PPPRC) has said that it does not anticipate any price increases in the near future, pointing out that prices of petroleum products cannot be set with a war situation.

Major marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), have indicated that landing cost of premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly called fuel is now N34 per liter with NNPC attributing the high cost to the gulf crises as well as the crises in Venezuela.

The secretary of the PPPRC, Dr. Olawole Oluleye told Vanguard that petroleum products prices have exhibited an upward swing lately because of the fear of war between Iraq and the United States of America.

But she reiterated the committee's position on pricing saying that no immediate increase (s) was anticipated over the ongoing face - off between Iraq andUnited States.

On the recent report that major marketers are pushing for an increase in prices, she said that the major marketers are just one of the players in the sector and that they can not dictate to the committee.

According to Oluleye the federal government has a social responsibility to the people and would not sit idly and allow the people to suffer.

On the fundamentals that can lead to an increase in prices of petroleum products, she pointed out that they include the cost of crude oil, the exchange rate and cost of freight and insurance among others.

She however explained that since import prices of petroleum products and the local prices of petroleum products are at parity the major marketers cannot participate in the importation of petroleum products.

The communications manager of Unipetrol Nigeria PLC ,Tokumbo Durosaro while speaking with Vanguard reiterated the position of the major marketers saying that they cannot import petroleum products under the prevailing market situation .

It would be recalled that the managing director of the company, Adewale Tinubu, had while speaking on behalf of other marketers at a meeting with the NNPC canvassed this same position.

Other marketers who pleaded anonymity expressed similar sentiments, pointing out that landing cost of petroleum products in Lagos after cost freight and insurance have added up now to N34 per litre.

They maintained that at that rate it would be suicidal for any major marketer to import products under the prevailing price regime which has the price of pms pegged at N26 per litre.

It would be recalled that this was the reason why major marketers insisted at the meeting with the group managing director of the NNPC that they would rather have the corporation continue to import products and distribute to them.

Another industry operator who pleaded anonymity explained that it was wrong of the NNPC to try to demonize the major marketers by giving the impression that they have vowed not to import products.

The operator pointed out that since the NNPC gets allocated $450,000 barrels of crude oil per day at a cost of $18 per barrel, considering the prevailing market prices of crude oil , the corporation has no business complaining.

He also noted that the corporation has not been asked to account for the difference it was getting when Plat prices had not appreciated to the current level. He further pointed out that if the federal government really wants to create a level playing field, then it should also consider allocating crude oil to major marketers at $18 per barrel.

www.vanguardngr.com By Hector Igbikiowubo Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Amidst persisting supply hic-ups at filling stations across the country, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Committee (PPPRC) has said that it does not anticipate any price increases in the near future, pointing out that prices of petroleum products cannot be set with a war situation.

Major marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), have indicated that landing cost of premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly called fuel is now N34 per liter with NNPC attributing the high cost to the gulf crises as well as the crises in Venezuela.

The secretary of the PPPRC, Dr. Olawole Oluleye told Vanguard that petroleum products prices have exhibited an upward swing lately because of the fear of war between Iraq and the United States of America.

But she reiterated the committee’s position on pricing saying that no immediate increase (s) was anticipated over the ongoing face - off between Iraq andUnited States.

On the recent report that major marketers are pushing for an increase in prices, she said that the major marketers are just one of the players in the sector and that they can not dictate to the committee.

According to Oluleye the federal government has a social responsibility to the people and would not sit idly and allow the people to suffer.

On the fundamentals that can lead to an increase in prices of petroleum products, she pointed out that they include the cost of crude oil, the exchange rate and cost of freight and insurance among others.

She however explained that since import prices of petroleum products and the local prices of petroleum products are at parity the major marketers cannot participate in the importation of petroleum products.

The communications manager of Unipetrol Nigeria PLC ,Tokumbo Durosaro while speaking with Vanguard reiterated the position of the major marketers saying that they cannot import petroleum products under the prevailing market situation .

It would be recalled that the managing director of the company, Adewale Tinubu, had while speaking on behalf of other marketers at a meeting with the NNPC canvassed this same position.

Other marketers who pleaded anonymity expressed similar sentiments, pointing out that landing cost of petroleum products in Lagos after cost freight and insurance have added up now to N34 per litre.

They maintained that at that rate it would be suicidal for any major marketer to import products under the prevailing price regime which has the price of pms pegged at N26 per litre.

It would be recalled that this was the reason why major marketers insisted at the meeting with the group managing director of the NNPC that they would rather have the corporation continue to import products and distribute to them.

Another industry operator who pleaded anonymity explained that it was wrong of the NNPC to try to demonize the major marketers by giving the impression that they have vowed not to import products.

The operator pointed out that since the NNPC gets allocated $450,000 barrels of crude oil per day at a cost of $18 per barrel, considering the prevailing market prices of crude oil , the corporation has no business complaining.

He also noted that the corporation has not been asked to account for the difference it was getting when Plat prices had not appreciated to the current level. He further pointed out that if the federal government really wants to create a level playing field, then it should also consider allocating crude oil to major marketers at $18 per barrel.

www.srimedia.com Posted by on Mar 18, 2003, 10:39pm

A Shell platform in the Niger Delta The clashes between navy troops and ethnic Ijaw militants near Nigeria's southern oil town of Warri in the Niger Delta resulted in the death of five civilians on Sunday.

Activists of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) group said that the civilians died when troops raided an Ijaw town called Okerenkoko, on Thursday. The soldiers had accused community members of planning to disrupt the operations of Royal Dutch Shell. The Ijaw claim their fishing communities have been polluted by the oil industry. They also have a long-standing grievance over lack of compensation from Shell and the US oil company Chevron Texaco.

Nigerian navy spokesman, Shinebi Hungiapuko, confirmed there had been clashes between troops and armed militants. He said the situation was still under control but did not give further details.

Royal Dutch Shell has has an enormous amount of criticism for its operations in the Niger Delta
Africa's largest oil producer Shell, which produces about half of Nigeria's output of two million barrels a day, has key facilities in the area.

On Sunday the oil company said that it had begun evacuating "non-essential" staff from the affected areas in compliance with its safety regulations. According to local officials, the company has also shut down two oil facilities with a combined output of 55,000 barrels per day as a precautionary measure. On aggregate, total output form the country has fallen by 30,000 barrels a day.

Shell also said three policemen escorting a company barge on the Esravos River were taken hostage on Friday and were yet to be freed.

The latest unrest has its roots in a violent dispute which broke out in Warri in February between the Urhobo and Itshekiri communities over the delineation of electoral wards ahead of April-May general elections. The Ijaw community later sided with the Urhobo, alleging that the way the boundaries of the wards were drawn up favoured the Itshekiri.

A Shell platform and refinery in the Niger Delta In a petition to President Olusegun, Obasanjo Bello Oboko, president of FNDIC said "Our fear is that the whole political processes in Warri is being militarised. Security operatives have been secured to perpetuate unlawfully delineated electoral wards."

Tension in the Warri area has added to apprehension that the coming elections, the first since the 1999 vote that ended more than 15 years of military rule, may be marred by violence. Rival supporters of different political parties have clashed in various parts of the country, while several cases of political assassinations have been recorded nationwide.

The threat of war between the United States and Iraq and the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela has already sent world oil prices spiralling, and traders are nervously eyeing the unstable situation in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer.

A judicial committee set up by Nigeria's parliament last month called on Shell to pay $1.5 billion in compensation to the Ijaw.