Fresh indications have emerged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) may have side-lined Capital Oil and Gas petroleum depot at Apapa in order to favour other industry giants like MRS Oil, A.A Rano, Rahamaniyya and Folawiyo.
Reliable sources in the downstream who spoke with Shipping Position Daily correspondent have however attributed this to the handy work of President Muhammadu Buhari administration and some few northerners within the All Progressives Congress (APC)
The sources confirmed that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of ships carrying NNPC product to Capital Oil tank farm in the last three months.
Shipping Position Daily investigations also revealed that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of petroleum tankers queuing up to load petroleum product from Capital Oil facilities.
Also, there has been a recent upsurge in the number of trucks queuing up to load petroleum products at MRS Oil at the PTML Terminal axis of the Tin Can Island Port and the long queue of trucks around Sun Rise bus stop for those heading to Rahamaniyya tank farm to load products.
A.A Rano is located around Satellite Town in Lagos, while Folawiyo is at Creek road in Apapa.
At the MRS Oil axis, there is an evidently long queue of trucks trying to access the tank farm right from Liverpool down to the Tin Can port. The queue also stretches as far as Ijora Bridge from where the tanker drivers are being coordinated through Western Avenue bridge up to Liverpool.
Speaking with our correspondent, a petroleum marketer who pleaded anonymity alleged that President Buhari is trying to build more entrepreneurs like Dangote who will make money through oil import and finance the 2019 elections.
Recall also that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in January announced 39 companies as winners of the 2017/2018 crude oil term contract, for the purchase and lifting of Nigeria’s crude oil.
Some of the local companies are: Oando, Sahara, MRS Oil and Gas, A.A. Rano, Bono, Masters Energy, Eterna Oil and Gas, Cassiva Energy, Hyde Energy, Brittania-U, Northwest Petroleum and Shoreline Limited, among others.
But the source told our correspondent that "NNPC now makes use of MRS Oil, Rahamaniyya, AA Rano while Capital Oil has been side-lined, Folawiyo is being patronized because they have about 12 boys there who have been doing PMS business for years, Folawiyo is also a Yoruba man that is known to them as a strong Muslim"
"The essence is for them to do business, make money and prepare for 2019, Buhari is not going to steal money, he is just empowering his people, by the time he leaves, he would have developed 100 more people like Dangote"
"They are ones in charge of the dollars now, the EFCC would be watching out for any bank that wants to grant loans to politicians, but when these marketers release their money they cannot be arrested because they are business men" he said
Also speaking on this development, a member of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at Capital Oil who pleaded anonymity said that the NNPC is now directing more vessels to MRS Oil and others.
He attributed the scarcity and hike in the price of kerosene to the change in distribution, nothing that "Capital Oil was the depot that is distributing kerosene cheap to the masses, but now much product not coming again"
However, when he was contacted by Shipping Position Daily last week, oil magnate and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil, Mr. Ifeayin Ubah debunked the insinuations that NNPC has side-lined his deport in fuel distribution.
In a terse text message which he replied our correspondent, Mr. Ubah said "it is not true"
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