The country stands to save over N12 trillion, which could be channeled to other areas of development for the country if the downstream sector is fully deregulated.
The group managing director, Rain-oil Limited, Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie stated this while outlining the benefits of deregulation at the just concluded Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) Strategic International Conference in Lagos with the topic: “Energy Transition, PIA, Petroleum Pricing and the Way Forward for the Downstream Sector.”
Subsidy removal, he noted that Nigerians are not averse to subsidy removal, but noted that PMS consumers only want some level of reassurance on the subject matter, and the cushioning effects of government.
He also noted that the petroleum industry act remains the silver bullet in growing the downstream sector, however decried the huge sum expended on fuel subsidy so far.
The Rain-oil boss while taking advantage of the conference, to itemize his company’s contribution to Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, said Rainoil Limited presently has over forty LPG trucks in its business bank, with retail outlets scattered across the country.
‘’As a prominent player in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, Ogbechie said the company’s operations cut across the downstream value chain including petroleum product storage, haulage/distribution, and retail sales. The company’s primary products he disclosed included petrol (PMS), Diesel (AGO), kerosene (DPK,) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).’’
He said Rainoil just celebrated 25 years this year. According to him, the company which started from scratch, today had been built to be one of the very prominent and very dominant players in the downstream sector of the the Nigerian oil and gas industry.