Peter Mbah: Recurring fuel scarcity caused by inadequate investments in downstream oil sector

Peter Mbah, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu, has attributed the persistent fuel shortages and the associated discomfort being experienced by Nigerians to insufficient investments in the downstream oil and gas sector.

Mbah, who is also the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, said this at the weekend while speaking to journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja.

He was accompanied by Nasiru Ado-Bayero, chairman of Pinnacle Oil and Gas, who is also the emir of Bichi Kingdom in Kano state.

Since February, 2022, Nigeria has witnessed extended periods of petroleum products scarcity, especially petrol, which sparked a number of disputes and blame-shifting between the regulatory bodies and oil marketers.

The crisis, according to Mbah, was caused by a lack of investment in the downstream sector, a problem that his company, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, has begun to address with the opening of the “largest” storage terminal in West Africa in Lagos last year.

Asked if there could be an end to the scarcity that is being experienced nationwide, Mbah said: “There has been a deficit of the sort of investments Pinnacle has done in the last decades, but what we’re doing right now is to address that stagnation of investments in the downstream oil and gas industry.”

“As you know, this is an investment size of about $1 billion. So, we are expecting to see more of such investments because what the Pinnacle has done is to create some efficiency in the supply and distribution value-chain of the downstream sector.

“So, we are indeed expecting that more investment in the downstream sub-sector would completely eliminate the sort of scarcity you are witnessing today.”

Explaining why he had come along with Nasiru Ado-Bayero to the villa to see the president, Mbah said it was a visit to express appreciation to Buhari for inaugurating the company’s facilities at Lekki, Lagos state, in October last year.

He said the operations of the facilities have reduced costs and enhanced the supply of petroleum products to many regions of the nation, as well as eased traffic in the Apapa neighborhood of Lagos, and given many Nigerians access to worthwhile employment possibilities.

“We, Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, have come here today to express our profound gratitude and our heartfelt appreciation to Mr. President,” Mbah said.

“You will recall that on the 22nd day of October, 2022, Mr. President inaugurated our storage terminal, adjudged to be the largest storage terminal in West Africa with offshore intake facilities, and also adjudged to be the deepest intake facility in the entire Africa, sitting at a water depth of 23 meters.

“So, we do have SPM and CBM. Those are the offshore facilities we have. Those facilities have the capability to in-take the largest vessels you can imagine and discharge over 100 million liters of clean petroleum products within 24 hours. This is typically what takes the industry 30 to 32 days to discharge.

“This facility is located at the Lekki Free Zone, just by the Dangote Refinery. So, it has eased the congestion and the gridlock we have at the Apapa area in Lagos. It has also reduced the costs of supply and delivery of petroleum products in different parts of the country. It has also provided jobs for teeming unemployed Nigerians.

“So this is why we thought it necessary to come and say thank you to Mr. President.”