BY CLARA NWACHUKWU
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has entered into petroleum products distribution agreements with indigenous firm, Capital Oil and Gas Limited.

Confirming the partnership after inaugurating Capital Oil’s new electronic loading bay and expanded Jetty at Ibafon and Truck farm, the first of its kind in Lagos last week, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, tasked other operators in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry to emulate the investment drive of Capital Oil.

According to the minister, “All in all, I think this efforts are very commendable, and one that I will like to see replicated by other operators in the country. If they can put in this kind of efforts in their facilities and achieve this kind of standard, we believe that the effort of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will transform various sectors of our economy will indeed be realised over the next few years.

“And the standard they have provided for all the service providers and handlers at the holding bay, creating resting place, standard restaurant at the truck park are exactly what we need to raise fundamental standards in the country. If one person does it, and another person does there, and then another, we will begin to see standards begin to rise in Nigeria for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

She noted that with the kind of facilities put in place at both the Jetty and Tank farm as well as the Truck Park, there is no way the NNPC will not partner with the company.

“There is no doubt that the NNPC has to take up the matter… in many ways, there are partnerships already, NNPC Retail and the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC are already on ground here fully, and in the holding bay. So there is already a partnership, and there has to be.

But going forward, we will continue to improve on those partnerships, which will deliver the most optimal benefit to the Nigerian public as a whole.”

In particular, she commended Capital Oils investment in the new loading gantry as well as the 80 mobile dispensing trucks capable of dispensing petroleum products to all areas in the country, particularly in the rural areas, where they do not have the access as in the to the urban centres.

With regard to adequate supply of product and financial support to enable the company recoup its investment, the minister gave the assurance that the Federal Government was putting in place an all-encompassing structure that will benefit serious operators like Capital Oil across all sectors of the economy.

“We are looking at a holistic solution, I do believe that over the next four years, Nigeria will be a better place not just in the oil and gas,” she added.

Going forward in the sector, there will be a lot of changes, we will be putting in place all the necessary reforms that will ensure that the oil and gas sector moves forward in a manner that will be beneficial to all Nigerians.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Capital Oil, Mr Ifeanyi Uba, disclosed that the tank expansion has increased storage capacity to 196million litres, with the new loading bay capable of loading up to 56 million litres per day, far in excess of national daily demand of 32million litres per day.

With the expansion progtramme, which was executed within four years, he said Capital Oil now had four jetties in the Ibafon area, which accounts for more than 40 percent of petroleum products import in the country. This makes the company the single largest jetty operator in the country.

He, however, called for increased product allocation, saying that the current allocation of 45,000 litres was a gross under utilization of the jetty capacity.