Friday 10 February 2012

OANDO TAKES A STAND ON FUEL SUBSIDY

On 17th January, 2012, the Major Oil Marketer Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) comprising Coniol PLC, Forte Oil PLC, Mobil Oil Nigeria PLC, MRS Oil Nigeria PLC, Total Nigeria and Oando PLC issued a press statement detailing the workings of the current subsidy scheme and their roles and responsibilities. On 24th, January 2012, Oando Group chief Executive appeared before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Subsidy to clarify Oando's position.

As far back as the mid-1970s, the Nigerian Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has subsidised the cost of various petroleum products to petroleum distributors for onward delivery to the general public.

To ensure private sector participation in the importation and distribution of petroleum product with the view of eliminating the inefficiencies around the delivery of this service to the Nigerian public, the Federal Government set up the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) in 2006. The PSF is administered by the Petroleum Products Pricing regulatory Authority (PPPRA) under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance.

OANDO says "Any insinuation or speculation that our participation in the PSF constitutes an illegal act or nefarious activity is completely false. Our claims under the PSF are reimbursements for costs legitimately incurred nut otherwise unrecoverable due to the lower regulated sale price under the government's subsidy initiative. All such costs are independently ascertained by the PPPRA and duly audited.