Fuel Loading Resumes at Aba Depot After 16 Years

The lifting of petroleum products at the Aba depot of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which had been suspended sixteen years ago is expected to resume next week.

This was disclosed at the weekend as the Federal Government said it was part of measures to find permanent solution to the scarcity of fuel plaguing the country for months.

It also said over twelve million liters of petroleum products were awaiting distribution at the depot.

The resumption of operations at the depot according to the Executive Director of the company Mr. Kennedy Azodeh, followed the repairs carried out on the vandalized oil pipeline which now makes the pumping of products possible.

Suspension of loading at the depot was as a result of the continued pipeline vandalisation along the Port Harcourt – Enugu stretch covering about 209 kilometers.

Efforts in the past to revive the Osisioma Depot at Aba were sabotaged by the activities of vandals and failure of the community to ensure security of the pipelines along the route.

Azodeh said measures were being put in place to effectively check vandalism in the area.

He, however, said while the Port Harcourt –Aba route was now safe, the pumping from Aba to Enugu would be effected soon when logistics were put in place.

In his remark, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association ( IPMAN ) Aba Depot, Prince Bobby Dick, said because of the expected loading at the depot, marketers had reversed the price of the product to the government approved price.