A MAJOR drive to curb fuel hoarding and attendant scarcity nationwide was undertaken at the weekend by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporate (NNPC).

The effort was on display in Kano where, out of fear of incurring the wrath of NNPC officials, fuel dealers yesterday started selling petroleum products to the public.

Sudden scarcity of fuel in Kano may not be unconnected with the action of some dealers who hoard the product for pecuniary benefits ahead of the take-off of the deregulation of the petroleum industry policy on November 1.

Before a surprise inspection visit to Kano by senior officials of the NNPC, fuel was fast becoming a scarce commodity because most stations went dry for inexplicable reasons.

For the past four days, there have been long queues of motorists at filling stations where fuel was made available, just as the black market rate for four litres went for about N700 instead of the official cost of N280.

But curiously, as early as 7.00 a.m. yesterday, dealers who got wind of the impeding visit of the NNPC officials ensured that their filling stations made fuel available to consumers.

Filing stations, including the Total's at Brigade and NNPC mega, ensured that they were not caught napping by the Ajuonuma team which went round the town to ensure that fuel was made available to motorists.

Levi Ajuonuma, who is the Group General Manager, Public Relations of NNPC, justified the visit of his team to Kano, saying it was aimed at ensuring that fuel dealers complied with laid down rules on supply and distribution of products.

Reading the riot act to dealers who failed to utilise all nozzle points in their filing stations, he said that the NNPC would ensure that consumers were not subjected to any form of hardship.

Affirming that the NNPC has enough supply of petroleum products to meet the needs of Nigerians, he urged consumers in Kano to resist the temptation of going into panic buying due to the antics of fuel dealers.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Bashir Bello, absolved his members of blame, claiming that the problem lies squarely with the non-availability of the products at the NNPC depot in Kano.

He explained that due to the situation, his members who usually travel long distances to Lagos face difficulties before being supplied on time and then had to go through the rigours of conveying fuel and other petroleum products to Kano by road.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's quest to ensure effective gas utilisation has received a major boost with the announcement that the project at the Ovade-Ogharefe oil field in Delta State has been successfully registered under the United Nations (UN) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.

The project is designed to reduce green house gas emission by more than two million tonnes of carbondioxide yearly.

The CDM allows for green house gas emission reduction from projects in developing countries to be registered and monitored under the UN so that these reductions can be sold to developed countries that have emission limits.

Chief Festus Fadeyi, Chairman of Pan Ocean Oil Corporation, an indigenous firm and operators of the gas project, stated that it was the largest CDM effort in Africa and when at full capacity would provide 135 million standard cubic feet of gas per day for electricity.

He added that the gas, which otherwise would have been flared, would be sold to developed countries to generate revenue for Nigeria.