Oil Marketers: 800 Tankers Already Converted to Transport Gas

News reaching shows that oil marketers are currently converting some of their trucks to begin distributing gas to filling stations in order to distribute Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to gas-powered vehicles.

On Thursday, it came public that marketers were converting around 800 tankers that formerly supplied fuel to filling stations to begin transporting gas to retail shops.

The marketers also informed reporters of the media that they were now putting CNG dispensing pumps at certain filling stations that also sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), generally known as petrol.

They added that the movement gained support following the Federal Government's suspension of PMS subsidies on May 29, 2023, following President Bola Tinubu's announcement that the 'subsidy is gone'.

The Federal government has been promoting the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) by automobiles as an alternative to the widespread usage of PMS. According to operators, fuel was not only cheaper than subsidized petrol, but it was also cleaner and more available in Nigeria.

Chinedu Okonkwo, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, stated, "Some of my members have begun signing up to dispense gas at their stations, as well as the collocation of gas in their outlets." One of the largest independent marketers has given approximately 500 of his trucks for conversion into gas transport trailers."

He appealed, however, not to name the station owners, noting that the dealers would not want their identities in public at the moment in order to protect their companies.

Explaining further, he said, “There are some new tankers too, over 300 of them have also indicated interest to have CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) trucks. These trucks are to serve filling stations that would be dispensing gas to vehicles.

“What we will do is collocate the gas dispensing plants in a plug-and-play model with existing filling stations. That is the beauty of it and that is why IPMAN is very keen on this project because there is no Local Government or ward in Nigeria today that you won’t see my members.

“We control over 80 percent of the downstream oil sector. So it is an advantage for us. For if you are to build new gas or CNG stations, it will take a huge cost. But this collocation model has helped to reduce the exposure in terms of building new stations.” 

Meanwhile, the IPMAN president informed the media that marketers were being required to pay extra money for fuel that had not been delivered to them before the commodity's subsidy is removed.

He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the commodity's sole importer, had requested that the payment be made by oil marketers, adding that the additional cost was between N13m and N14m.

According to him, “The other thing that is of concern to my members is that some of them paid for products over three months ago and have not loaded these products. And when the NNPC changed the cost of PMS recently, it is asking them to bring extra N14m or N13m; that is a problem.

“They (marketers) are saying that the NNPC should provide the products that were paid for before the price was increased. That is the challenge I have now. Some of these marketers were on the verge of loading before the price was increased.”

“But NNPC said everybody has to pay the new price because the product has not entered the trucks of those who paid the old rate. I have pleaded with the Vice President of NNPC to see what the company can do.”