Daily Independent (Lagos)
Adeola Yusuf
4 December 2008
Lagos — The Federal Government may be heading for a fresh with the Major Oil marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) over the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) debt of N61.99 billion, which it owed the association.
PSF officials have told newsmen that they have serviced all the debt, which they owed MOMAN, but executive secretary of the association, Obafemi Olawore said on Thursday at a workshop organized by the National Association of Energy Correspondent (NAEC) in Lagos that the PSF lied with the statement.
"I swear on oath that they have not paid us as I speak to you. Remember when I last addressed the press, I told you that we were been owed an accumulated amount of about N110 billion under PSF. Yes I have also heard about the e-loading but I have not seen it," he said.
Fielding questions from newsmen after presenting a paper entitled: "Funding of Oil and gas projects In Nigeria", the MOMAN secretary said, "N17 billion was released to pay the backlock of 2007. Half of this amount was released and PEF used it to pay independent marketers. The other half has been released and what they told us was that they will reimburse soon. But I can tell you that up till now, they have not paid us."
He criticized the pricing templates of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulating Agency (PPPRA), the enforcement of multiple taxation by government agencies, as well as the high interest rates by banks, describing them as some of the factors militating against the smooth running and funding of projects in the upstream sector of the industry.
"Demurage days are 18 days but in reality, we have had to contend with 30 to 60 days on some occasions. Offshore finance is said to be 2.5 per cent LIBOR. In reality, this hovers between 4 to 7 per cent. Local interest rates from banks' loans are said to be 18 per cent, but what we have in reality are 23 per cent and Payment cycle for Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) is said to be 45 days but we have between 180 to 240 days to contend with," he stressed.
Maintaining that the N61.99 billion, which the government owed members of the association was yet to be paid, Olawore added: "PEF owes us over N8 billion for 2007 and bridging freight reimbursements."
The MOMAN secretary however expressed optimism that the industry would continue move forward when "PSF pay reimbursement as agreed per Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of February 2008 with payment of interest on overdue debts."
He concluded that recognition of demurrage days as average of 25 days should be made in the PPPRA template maintaining that "payment under PSF should also be reduced to 30 days maximum and interest rates charged by Nigerian banks should be reduced."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
