By Eyo Nsima
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, the regulator of midstream and downstream sectors said the oil marketers and others have resumed loading of petrol nationwide.
The oil marketers, tanker drivers and other stakeholders had shut down briefly as a result of the Presidential and national assembly elections about a week ago.

But in a statement obtained by The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com, the Chief Executive Officer, of NMDPRA, Mr. Ahmed Farouk, disclosed that it was working with other stakeholders to mitigate the tightness experienced in the distribution of petrol.
Specifically, the NMDPRA that puts the current stock sufficiency stands at 35.39 days to PMS, 34.86 days for Ago and 31.36 days for ATK, stated: “The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, assures Nigerians that operations in loading depots have fully resumed following the restriction of movements during the recently concluded presidential and national assembly elections which necessitated truck drivers to travel to exercise their civic duty.
“The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, assures Nigerians that operations in loading depots have fully resumed following the restriction of movements during the recently concluded presidential and national assembly elections which necessitated truck drivers to travel to exercise their civic duty.

“Consequently, the NMDPRA is working with other stakeholders to mitigate the slight tightness being experienced in the distribution of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.
“Most importantly, the public is invited to note that the current stock sufficiency stands at 35.39 days to PMS, 34.86 days for Ago and 31.36 days for ATK. The Authority continues to strive towards guaranteeing supply and distribution reliability nationwide and strongly advises against panic buying.”

The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited, Mr. Garba Deen Muhammad also put the nation’s petrol stocks at 2.1 billion litres, adding that, “plans to close the month of March 2023 with about 2.8 billion litres, which is equivalent to 47 days of sufficiency.

“The appearance of pockets of queues in Abuja and some parts of the country is largely due to restrictions in businesses and movement, to allow for the conduct of the Presidential and NASS elections and enable Nigerians to exercise their civic right. However, operations have now resumed at the depots and trucks are being dispatched to various parts of the country. We expect normalcy to be restored in the next few days.”

However, the Chief Executive officer/ES of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Clement Isong, has called on the players in the downstream sector to embrace automation in order to enhance transparency in the sector.

Isong, who spoke at a virtual workshop on world international data day in Lagos, said: “Our position in MOMAN is that we are looking for the automation of the entire supply chain. It will mean everybody needs to invest in order to optimise their businesses.
“Eventually, the beneficiary is the customer. It is good for corporate governance. It removes people’s ability to steal. And the authority (NMDPRA) itself has got to invest in infrastructure for data gathering and has got to do a preliminary analysis of that data and has to put up that information on its website which investors, market operators, and everybody can access.

“On that basis, optimise the business and make investment decisions. It is fundamental to a deregulated system. It improves the quality of decision-making as well as transparency and eliminates bad behaviour as well as fraud and theft.”