The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in response to the request by the Nigerian airline operators for the corporation to fix the prices of aviation fuel, has advised the operators to obtain import licenses instead.
Driving the news
NNPC’s Managing Director, Mele Kyari, in a statement insists that as aviation fuel is a deregulated product, the corporation’s role in regulating prices is little. This is the agreement of a meeting between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the leadership of the House of Representatives.
Brief background to the story
The prices of aviation fuel have been experiencing volatility in the last few months as in March 2022 the prices hiked by 300% from January 2022, invariably increasing the prices of airline tickets and other costs of operations. AON severally threatened to stop servicing the public due to the high cost of operations, but NNPC, the House of Representatives and the federal government intervened. The most recent of these threats was last Friday.
- The parties at those intervention meetings came up with resolutions to prevent a shutdown of the aviation sector, but the AON accused NNPC of not taking action on these resolutions.
- AON had also earlier insisted on obtaining import licenses without the service of middlemen.
Current situation
At the meeting between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the leadership of the House of Representatives, the parties developed a short and long-term solution to solve the volatility crisis.
- For the short term, AON is to present trustworthy oil marketers to distribute the over six million liters of fuel assured by the federal government at N480 per liter. This is to last for the next three months.
- As a long-term solution, the parties urged all AON members to apply for import licenses with the help of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).