Why Aviation Fuel Is Scarce, By NNPC

• ‘Airlines can’t pay

’The scarcity of Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) has more to do with the inability of airlines to pay for the product than its alleged scacity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said.

According to the Nation report, the Corporation said the introduction of the cash-and-carry policy by marketers as a result of the huge debts being owed by the airlines, was the main cause of the scarcity.

NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru, who spoke when the management of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), visited the corportaion, said NNPC has taken steps to ensure adequate supply of the product with the importation of over 45 million litres. He said the monetisation of natural gas was a cardinal mandate of the Corporation, and expressed its commitment to carry on with the Brass LNG and OK LNG, saying the two projects were high priority gas entities which promise to boost revenue to the Federal Government.

NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement quoted Baru as saying: “We are still committed, to monetising our natural gas. We have the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) which is at the moment monetising about four billion standard cubic feet of gas on a daily basis (4 billion scf/d). We also have plans for Olokola LNG as well as Brass LNG.“We have a little challenge with market windows for these projects which we are reviewing on a monthly basis. Once the appropriate market window opens up, we will quickly get more shareholders to join us for the projects.”He said a meeting of Brass LNG stakeholdershas been scheduled for early next year to chart the way forward for the project, adding that apart from the LNG projects, NNPC was also working on gas monetisation through aggressive enhancement of domestic gas supply for power generation and industrial use.Baru praised the management of NTA for its factual reportage of the corporation’s activities.He urged the state-run television station to help in enlighten the public on the dangers of pipeline vandalism, which long-term impact on the environment far outweighs whatever short-term gain the perpetrators may be seeking.

Speaking earlierThe NTA Director-General, Malam Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, said the visit was in continuation of the Authority’s resolve to liaise constantly with other government agencies it collaborates with regularly and with which they share the objective of furthering the interest of the country.“The NNPC and NTA have come a long way. Our relationship has continued to wax stronger and stronger and it is my desire to ensure that during my stint as DG of NTA, we take this relationship to a greater height,” he said.