Speaking to journalists on Monday in Lagos, the chairman of MOMAN, Mr Andrew Gbodume, stated that since inception, MOMAN has progressively gained a reputation in the Nigerian petroleum industry as a key player.
“But one of the major challenges the Nigerian downstream petroleum sector is still facing is the non-payment of the long outstanding fuel subsidy to oil marketers. We appreciate the efforts of the national assembly but the non-payment creates a significantly negative impact on the operational efficiency of the downstream sector of the oil industry, thereby placing a severe strain on its efforts to continually invest in infrastructure and raise industry standards. We hope that the debts will be paid in full to the oil marketers as soon as possible,” he said.
Gbodume, who puts the debt owed MOMAN members at N130.7 billion as at August 2018, stated that once reconciliation has been done and a particular figure was agreed as debt, he couldn’t understand why settlements have not been made since over years.
He stressed that marketers are working tirelessly with the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), to ensure to ensure fuel availability and prevent fuel scarcity that rocked the nation in December 2017.
“We need to move away from the present arrangement because downstream sector needs investment. The banks are not willing to lend to the downstream sector because of the present arrangement,” he said.
He, however, commended the PPMC for its efforts over the years in ensuring consistent product supplies.
“We cannot but acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the PPMC over the last few months in ensuring consistent supply of petroleum products within the country. PPMC has demonstrated its resolve in guaranteeing a non-repeat of the scarcity the nation experienced at the end of 2017 and quite frankly has done well so far,” he said.
MOMAN is a downstream oil and gas group made up of six major marketers which include 11Plc (formerly Mobil Oil Nigeria), Conoil, OVH Energy Marketing Limited, Forte Oil, MRS and Total.