To ensure a complete sanitization of the petroleum products supply/distribution chain in the country the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC has approved the immediate purchase and deployment of ultra modern vessel tracking to enable the NNPC War Room maintain an unimpeded tracking of ships and ocean liners conveying petroleum products to Nigeria.
The War Room, a special task force was created last week by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC Dr. Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo with a stern directive to end the perennial fuel supply and distribution challenge noticeable in some Nigerian cities especially Lagos and Abuja within seven days.
But less than 48 hours to the expiration of the deadline, reprieve came the way of Nigerians as the aggressive fuel supply sanitization exercise mounted by the Task Force gave rise to the rapid disappearance of fuel queues across the country.
Throwing more light on the use of the device, Mallam Farouk Ahmed, Executive Director Commercial, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, a subsidiary of the NNPC, explained that the device which has since been deployed to maximum benefit by the `War Room’, enables the Corporation to predict with exactitude when vessels would arrive and make contingency arrangement in case of any delay in arrival.
“It helps us to monitor the Vessels from the loading Port to the discharge Port. We know the speed at which she is travelling, the exact coordinate, where she is heading for and estimated time of arrival. We also know if she is stationary or has broken down or gone somewhere to take bunkers, “Ahmed explained.
He also stated that the service which is being facilitated by Reuters ensures that no supplier can mislead the NNPC on the status of In-coming vessels on the high sea.
As part of efforts to sustain the steady flow of fuel to fillings stations across the country the War Room on Wednesday dispatched massive volume of fuels to the Lagos and Abuja areas as well as some other major cities across the country.
In Lagos and its environs a total of over 17.3 million litres of premium motor spirits, pms was dispatched to Lagos and its environs in 526 trucks. Abuja and its extended environs received over 8.9 million litres of fuel. Huge figures relative to the consumption levels were also recorded throughout the country.
More support came the way of the NNPC War Room with the declaration of solidarity by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG. Speaking during a brief visit to the War Room’ Comrade Babatunde Ogun the President of PENGASSAN described the War Room efforts as something which must be sustained to ensure a holistic sanitization of both the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry in Nigeria.
On his part, Comrade Achese Igwe National President of NUPENG echoed the need to sustain and also consolidate on the gains of the interventionist task force.
“For us in NUPENG we believe in the strategies of the War Room. We are happy because the war room did not limit its dragnet to NNPC alone but also made use of informed ideas from other key stakeholders across the oil and gas industry. This spirit must be allowed to pervade the Industry,” Igwe stated.
