By Yemie Adeoye
The Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, has allayed fears of fuel scarcity assuring that there is enough fuel in strategic reserve to last for more than a month.

The Managing Director of PPMC, the marketing arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Haruna Momoh, said that all the issues that led to the initial hitch in supply have been resolved, hence the current scarcity is artificial and warned consumers to remain calm as petroleum products are not in short supply.

“There were a number of issues like the Petrol Tanker Drivers, PTD strike in Kwara, Rivers and Edo states, which have been resolved. There was also the issue of marketers’ reluctance to import products as a result of the uncertainty about subsidy payments, which has also been resolved with the recent appropriation for subsidy included in the 2012 Budget by the President. So marketers have resumed importation, and we have enough fuel in our strategic reserve to last until their cargoes start arriving,” Momoh was quoted to have said.

Earlier in the week, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, had debunked reports that it had stopped processing subsidy claims from genuine importers. Also, the Director of Budget in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Bright Okogwu, while appearing before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), promised to write the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to restore credit lines to credible product importers to enable them commence importation.