Tokunbo
30th Apr 2009, 11:23
To add to the woes of Lagos commuters who have been badly hit by a shortage of petrol, there is now a shortage of Jet A1 at MMIA according to The Punch online Punch Online, Jet A1 Shortage (http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20090430633529)
The Assistant General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammed Tukur, confirmed to our correspondent, in a telephone interview on Wednesday, that airlines were experiencing slight delays due to their inability to access the product.
“Airlines are experiencing about 30 minutes delay due to the scarcity. We, at Afrijet, are going through the same thing. The situation is now affecting us. We are only praying that government will do something about it,” Tukur said.
The Station Manager, Chanchangi Airlines, Mr. Ahmed Babadiya, also confirmed that the airline was having difficulty getting aviation fuel.
The airline’s spokesman, Mr. Ibrahim Adamu, said, “I have just been told that there are some delays due to the scarcity. One of our aircraft has been parked for over an hour now due to that. Our fuel officers are away now to lobby for some. Whenever there is scarcity like that, airlines struggle to get the small fuel available.”
A flight information officer at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, told our correspondents that two airlines had experienced slight delays in the morning but he did not disclose the reason.
But a reliable industry source told our correspondent that the marketers had asked the airlines to pay their accumulated fuel debts, insisting they would only be supplied fuel on cash and carry basis.
Some of the airlines had to hurriedly look for money to pay the marketers to prevent their operations from being grounded.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said on Wednesday that the new pricing template for petroleum products introduced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency would convince major petroleum marketers to resume importation and help address the acute shortage in the country.
Addressing a press conference last night, the Group General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, said that major marketers had resumed the importation with the reintroduction of a pricing template.
He stressed that the shortage of products experienced across the country was a temporary problem and “will disappear within days.”
He said, “The marketers wanted government to give a template that will dictate whether they will continue to bring in products or not.
“Deregulation is a government policy, and the committee for deregulation was set up. There was an intervening period during, which PPPRA could not come up with a template to immediately enable marketers to bring in products. In that intervening period NNPC was covering for everybody.”
Ajuonuma stressed that NNPC imported over 60 per cent of petroleum products consumed in the country while the major and independent marketers imported about 40 per cent of consumed products.
He said, “The major marketers suspended products importation as a result of the suspension of petroleum subsidy payments. They have not imported a litre of products in the last one month.”
The GGM further explained that products supply across the country was also affected by the recent strike embarked upon by tanker drivers in Lagos, which needed the intervention of NNPC to be called off.
He said, “When we came out of that, NNPC’s import reception facility called System 2B got vandalised on April 23. That line moves products from Atlas Cove to Mosimi, Ibadan, Ore, and Ilorin.
“This effectively shut down the capacity of PPMC to move products by about 30 per cent. It reduced PPMC ability to move products by 380 trucks daily.
“The fire resulting from the vandals attack lasted for over four days.
The fire has just been put out and the repairs had just been completed and products pumping is just resuming.”
The Assistant General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammed Tukur, confirmed to our correspondent, in a telephone interview on Wednesday, that airlines were experiencing slight delays due to their inability to access the product.
“Airlines are experiencing about 30 minutes delay due to the scarcity. We, at Afrijet, are going through the same thing. The situation is now affecting us. We are only praying that government will do something about it,” Tukur said.
The Station Manager, Chanchangi Airlines, Mr. Ahmed Babadiya, also confirmed that the airline was having difficulty getting aviation fuel.
The airline’s spokesman, Mr. Ibrahim Adamu, said, “I have just been told that there are some delays due to the scarcity. One of our aircraft has been parked for over an hour now due to that. Our fuel officers are away now to lobby for some. Whenever there is scarcity like that, airlines struggle to get the small fuel available.”
A flight information officer at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, told our correspondents that two airlines had experienced slight delays in the morning but he did not disclose the reason.
But a reliable industry source told our correspondent that the marketers had asked the airlines to pay their accumulated fuel debts, insisting they would only be supplied fuel on cash and carry basis.
Some of the airlines had to hurriedly look for money to pay the marketers to prevent their operations from being grounded.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said on Wednesday that the new pricing template for petroleum products introduced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency would convince major petroleum marketers to resume importation and help address the acute shortage in the country.
Addressing a press conference last night, the Group General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, said that major marketers had resumed the importation with the reintroduction of a pricing template.
He stressed that the shortage of products experienced across the country was a temporary problem and “will disappear within days.”
He said, “The marketers wanted government to give a template that will dictate whether they will continue to bring in products or not.
“Deregulation is a government policy, and the committee for deregulation was set up. There was an intervening period during, which PPPRA could not come up with a template to immediately enable marketers to bring in products. In that intervening period NNPC was covering for everybody.”
Ajuonuma stressed that NNPC imported over 60 per cent of petroleum products consumed in the country while the major and independent marketers imported about 40 per cent of consumed products.
He said, “The major marketers suspended products importation as a result of the suspension of petroleum subsidy payments. They have not imported a litre of products in the last one month.”
The GGM further explained that products supply across the country was also affected by the recent strike embarked upon by tanker drivers in Lagos, which needed the intervention of NNPC to be called off.
He said, “When we came out of that, NNPC’s import reception facility called System 2B got vandalised on April 23. That line moves products from Atlas Cove to Mosimi, Ibadan, Ore, and Ilorin.
“This effectively shut down the capacity of PPMC to move products by about 30 per cent. It reduced PPMC ability to move products by 380 trucks daily.
“The fire resulting from the vandals attack lasted for over four days.
The fire has just been put out and the repairs had just been completed and products pumping is just resuming.”