Following the approval of products import allocation for the fourth quarter of 2010 by the federal government, petroleum marketers in the oil sector have expressed their excitements even as they expressed optimism that the development will return normalcy to fuel importation business.
Shipping Position Weekly gathered that marketers had hitherto refrained from the importation of some product because of the uncertainties of whether and how to recoup their money which is supposed to be paid to them by the government based on differences in bringing in the product.
However, since the allocation was reportedly approved last week by the Minister for Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Allison Maduekwe, tank farms in Lagos have returned back to their bustling and busy routine, the access roads along Apapa-Oshodi express way has also started witnessing congestion once again.
The approval of the allocation, according to reports is usually done before the end of the third quarter so as to enable importers of the product to prepare for the next phase, however the uncertainties surrounding the approval of the fourth quarter according to sources is what has caused some importers to stop importation of some products particularly the kerosene which has been experiencing instability in price for about one month.
A marketer, Mr. Babalola Oniteru who spoke with our correspondent on the development expressed hope and even confirmed that “since they don’t have the import license for the quarter yet, some of the private and independent marketers for a while did not have some product because most of them get loans from banks to get this product”.
He said: “if marketers want to consider the stringent loan conditions given to them, again if you place an order for the product it takes between 30 to 40 days for it to land here because of logistics problems, so in selling it, the rate will be quite different from that of the government, so some of them are not delving into it because nobody will want to buy fuel at N70 when it is available at N65 somewhere else”.
Speaking further he said, “I think it’s good now that the funds to bridge this gap has been approved”
Also confirming the stability in the downstream sector, the Managing Director of one of the biggest petroleum depots in Lagos: Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Mr. Ifeanyi Uba told our correspondent in a telephone chat last week that “people are working under the sovereign bond guarantee and it is working out well and this has ensured stability in product supply” even as he stated succinctly that his company in spite of this have made some observations concerning the allocations, “we have observations, but we will make our position known soon” he said.
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