Minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has directed relevant agencies to embark on a special supply of petroleum products to ensure nationwide availability during the Yuletide.
This development was contained in a statement signed by the group general manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ohi Alegbe, and made available in Abuja yesterday.
The agencies are Pipelines and Products Marketing Company and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.
As stated by the statement, the special supply intervention mechanism would entail the ramping up of additional supply via massive truck-out to guarantee product penetration to every nook and cranny of the country teed-off over the weekend.
The statement added that daily fuel truck-out to Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Ibadan and Jos had been increased significantly to enhance free flow of products across the country.
“NNPC is consolidating its strategic alliance with some major depot owners and oil marketers with strong regional logistics outlay in those areas to ensure maximum infiltration of products. The collaboration would be especially in the hinterland ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities,” it said, calling on the public to refrain from hoarding, diversion and panic buying of the product.
It added that the intervention measure would help circumvent the challenges posed by the unavailability of pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products.
It stated that product diversion was an economic crime and warned that it would not hesitate to report offenders to the security agencies for prosecution.