Hope for lower price as PHR depot gets supply

Power generation remains low, no payment for unused capacity—NERC

By Obas Esiedesa

As the Federal Government continues efforts to resolve the energy crisis facing the country, independent marketers have blamed the exorbitant cost of purchasing petrol at privately-owned depots for their inability to sell at government-approved price of N162-N165 per litre.

Their claim came a day after President Muhammadu Buhari apologised for the on-going petrol shortage across the country and poor power supply from the national grid.

Queues at filling stations in and around Abuja remained lengthy when Vanguard visited some outlets at the city centre and Karu area, yesterday.

Speaking to Vanguard in a telephone interview, the Public Relations Officer of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, said most independent marketers have had to source their products from the private depots, which sold far above government approved ex-depot price of N143 per litre.

Hope for lower price as PHR depot gets supply

Ukadike, however, raised hope that the situation would improve in the coming days as the Port Harcourt Refinery depot has just received product from the NNPC Limited to service the eastern part of the country.

He said: “The Port Harcourt Refinery depot has received product but they haven’t started loading. Hopefully they will begin loading later today (yesterday) or tomorrow.

“The queues come and go (in the East) but the problem is that the pump price is high, between N200 and N220 per litre. This is because the marketers get their supply from private depots.

“Currently, the PPMC is giving preference to Abuja and so most of the loadings are given to the big marketers and major marketers.

“These marketers are able to sell at N165 because they get the product at N143.20 per litre. The independent marketers buy at N175-N180 and so they have to sell at N200 and above.”

Grid generation remains low at 2,259MW

Meanwhile, the challenge of poor power generation to the national grid showed no sign of easing, yesterday, as checks by Vanguard showed that as at 3 pm, the grid supply was 2,259.29 megawatts from 12 generation plants.

Azura–Edo IPP topped with 410MW followed by Kainji Hydro at 391MW. Others are Afam VI 131MW; Geregu 267MW; Jebba Hydro 335MW; Olorunsogo NIPP 109MW; Omoku 48.30MW; Omotosho 60.80MW; Paras Energy 73.19MW; Sapele 53MW; Shiroro Hydro 292MW; and Trans-Amadi 89MW.

Speaking on the claims by power generation companies that government owed them N1.6 trillion for unutilised capacity charges, Chairman of

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Sanusi Garba, said the claim was not true.

He explained that only companies with effective power purchase agreement with Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc could be paid for a certain level of unutilised capacity.

He said: “Quite a number of the generation plants today do not have effective contracts that guarantee the payment of unutilised capacity.

“We are gradually migrating to a point where the generation plants will have capacity payments based on what can be delivered along the value chain.

“It will be reckless to sign an agreement with the generation plants for capacity that cannot be delivered because the infrastructure is not there. It means the Nigerian government will be paying for capacity that has been useful to Nigerians.”