Babalola Urges FG to Develop Fuel Strategic Reserves

Director of All Grace Energy, Engineer Sunday Babalola, has urged the federal government to develop Nigeria’s fuel strategic reserves to avert future fuel shortages.

He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited should ensure that Nigeria has enough buffer.

Babalola, a retired Deputy Director of the now-defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), in an interview, commended the federal government, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and Nigerians for their efforts and maturity during the last queues in petrol stations across some states in Nigeria as a result of scarcity of premium motor spirit, popularly called petrol.

Babalola said though the fuel scarcity lingered for some weeks, the federal government tried its best to restore normalcy.

According to him, Nigerians exhibited appreciable maturity and avoided protest or any violent reaction but showed understanding with the government.

It could be recalled that over 100 million liters of fuel recently imported into the country, were said to be adulterated, containing high methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification, which led to long queues at fuel stations in major cities in Nigeria.

This anomaly resulted in blame games among players in the industry.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and other related agencies had blamed the anomaly on the NNPC, while the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, blamed some oil companies for the importation of the offensive product.

Babalola stated that the NNPC was proactive in recalling the substandard product from causing havoc to consumers in the country.

He said, “You never can know what troubles can come in the world again. The world today is a global village. One person’s needs in Chile affect another person’s in Siberia. The effect is there. What people do will always be there. What I will advise the federal government to do is to develop our strategic reserves and make sure that we always have enough buffer.

“The last one was caused basically, as we were told, by adulteration; that there was too much methanol and ethanol in the fuel. It is not really adulteration per se, it is wrong. The right word should have been wrong missing or non-proportionate missing and not adulteration. That kind of created a problem. However, they were able to withdraw everything before it created another damage. They rose up to the challenge. I think Nigerians appreciate what they have done.

“To the NNPC, they have done very well. They did very well in rising up to the occasion to withdraw the fuel that was wrongly mixed and got them rid off before they could create further damage. They did very well in also bringing better quality fuel and distributing it as fast as possible. They did very well in ensuring that the prices generally did not change. They did very well in these areas. Of course, some unscrupulous elements must have seized the opportunity of the scarcity to rip people off. That is expected in any situation like that.

“The resumption of normal fuel supply at the normal rate in many states of Nigeria is a very good development. I must commend the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for the efforts they have put in to be able to bring about this restoration of fuel supply and prevent further fuel scarcity. Everybody’s hands were on deck to make sure it happened.

“It did not happen within the shortest possible time but it did eventually and that is very commendable. In spite of the trial and confusion going on in the world, including the Ukraine-Russian war, we are still able to get fuel into the petrol stations and people are able to buy without queues. I commend the federal government for that.”