No credible instrument to measure petrol consumption in Nigeria – NNPCL

Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has confirmed that the country lacks credible instrument to accurately measure premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol consumption.

Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari at the Senate Committee on Appropriations sitting, Friday, in Abuja

This is also as the NNPCL boss further disclosed that his company has discovered 4, 800 points of infraction on crude oil pipelines across the country, which according to him, represents 300 points of disruptions on every one kilometre of the total pipelines supply channels.

Speaking while appearing before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Mr Kyari said the absence of a credible instrument to measure petrol consumption in the country by extension means an accurate figure to justify subsidy on the imported petroleum products is lacking, as it is based on approximation.

According to Kyari, Nigeria does not have credible data for PMS consumption in the country because of the absence of the instrument to measure consumption.

The Senate had issued a 24-hour ultimatum on Wednesday to the NNPCL boss after an observation that he had in previous occasions, shunned summons by the Upper Chamber of the legislature to appear before its ad-hoc committee probing over N11 trillion expenditure on turn-around maintenance of petroleum refineries in the country between 2010 and 2023.

Fielding questions by the senate committee on the potential drop in pump price of petroleum if the country’s refineries are revived, Kyari explained that it might be possible to have a reduction, but it is not the main objective of the refineries, as, according to him, the target is export.

According to Kyari, maintaining the energy security target has fostered the confidence that in 2024, Nigeria will become a net exporter of petroleum products.

The NNPCL boss affirmed that no subsidy is charged to the federation, adding that the NNPCL has contributed N4.45 trillion as direct revenue into the federation in a combination of taxes, royalties and dividends and paid N406 billion as dividend to Federal Government’s account from July 2023.