Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday said the hardship in the aviation sector was not due to the scarcity of Jet-A1, but was partly because of the inability of the airlines to pay for the product.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, stated that the alleged scarcity of Aviation Turbine Kerosene was not responsible for the hardship being experienced in the aviation sector.

Baru, who spoke in Abuja, clarified that the corporation had taken steps to ensure adequate supply of the product with the importation of over 45 million litres.

He said the challenge had more to do with the inability of the airlines to pay for the product upon the introduction of a cash-and-carry policy by marketers as a result of the huge amounts being owed by the carriers.

Aviation fuel scarcity has been a challenge in the sector, as airlines often complain of the non-availability of the product.

A statement by the corporation quoted the GMD as also expressing the NNPC’s commitment to carry on with its twin gas projects of Brass LNG and Olokola LNG.

He said the two projects were high priority gas ventures, which promised to boost the Federal Government’s revenue.

Baru said monetisation of natural gas was a cardinal mandate of the corporation.

He said, “We are still committed, as the NNPC, to monetising our natural gas. We have the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, which is at the moment monetising about four billion standard cubic feet of gas on a daily basis. We also have plans for the Olokola LNG as well as the Brass LNG.

“We have a little challenge with market windows for these projects, which we are reviewing on a monthly basis. Once the appropriate market window opens up, we will quickly get more shareholders to join us for the projects.”

Baru stated that a meeting of Brass LNG stakeholders had been scheduled for early next year to look for the way forward for the project.

The GMD added that apart from the LNG projects, the corporation was also working on gas monetisation through aggressive enhancement of domestic gas supply for power generation and industrial use.

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