Stakeholder Lists Causes of High Cost of Aviation Fuel

Chinedu Eze

As the price of aviation fuel, also known as Jet-A1, continues to skyrocket, oil marketers have made efforts to explain why the price of the product would continue to rise, until appropriate steps are taken to address the challenges.

The General Manager, TotalEnergies, Rabiu Abdulmutalib, attributed the high cost of the product in the country to the inability of airline operators to access Foreign Exchange (FOREX), non-refining of the product locally and high cost of aviation fuel handling equipment.

Abdulmutalib said that the challenges fuel marketers are facing are numerous, noting for example that an average refueller costs as much as N150 million. Other challenges include cost of intensive fuelling equipment, airport taxes, importation, constant importation and lack of foreign exchange.

The General Manager noted that in view of the aforementioned challenges, the price of a litre of Jet-A1 would continue to rise in the country, adding that a litre of Jet-A1 fluctuated between N305 and N315 depending on the airport the airline is buying from.

“For you to move a product from Lagos to Kano, you pay almost N23 per litre. So, you can imagine what that would mean to airlines and off course the airport taxes, high cost of aviation fueling equipment like refuellers, average size refuellers almost N150 million. These are all cost intensive devices for the aviation”.

Abdulmutalib therefore called on the federal government to intervene by making it easier for Jet-A1 importers /marketers to access Foreign Exchange (FOREX), stressing that there is the need for proper coordination among relevant government agencies in monitoring and enforcement of all standards along the supply chain to address these issues.

Abdulmutalib listed some of the agencies to include the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

The TotalEnergies General Manager contended that to prevent the contamination of Jet- A1, organisations importing the product should not compromise any of the established international and local regulations on handling JET-A1 from refinery to aircraft.

He also advocated strict adherence to international specification checklist for aviation fuel recognised by major aviation fuel suppliers in the world and checking competencies and capacities of laboratories contracted for testing parameters of the product in the country are very important.

In his words, “There should be no compromise on any established international and local regulations on handling Jet A1 from the refinery to the aircraft”.

He suggested that there should be national sensitisation and awareness on monitoring filtration phase out from all aviation handling systems in Nigeria before the deadline of July 2023.