By Amin Kef-Ranger
The Management of NP-Sierra Leone Limited (NP-SL Ltd), has intimated this medium that the current fuel situation in the country could not be divorced from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Management continued that since the inception of the war the petroleum importing and marketing company has bent backward in order to ensure that petroleum products, mainly petrol and diesel, are available at all times in the country.
“Though the war has caused and continues to make the company run at huge losses yet as an indigenous company we take it as our moral responsibility to make sure that those products are available on the market,” this medium was informed during an exclusive interview he granted adding that NP-SL Ltd has been the only oil marketing company in the country that has been unreservedly supplying and marketing fuel during trying times like now maintaining that the company is still doing so.
Management revealed that every day NP fuel stations have petroleum products to sell underscoring that they intend to import more of those products.
It was stated that NP-SL is the only company at the moment that has AGO gas and diesel in the country furthering that the negative statements certain people are making against the company will in no way discourage them or deter them to continue to translate their sacred duty into reality which is to ensure that there are petroleum products in the country.
The NP-SL Management debunked a statement made by one Peter Beckley of the Strategic Communications Unit on the SLBC Podium Programme of the 23rd June 2022 that NP-SL doesn’t have the required resources to import petroleum products in the country and that the company is purchasing those products from sources within the country for onward sales.
It was added that as someone who is representing Government, Peter Beckley must be capable enough of sourcing concrete facts before making statements within the public domain. He said what Peter said is not only unfortunate but very ridiculous.
In setting the record straight, Management pointed out that NP-SL Ltd has the largest market share and is the most capitalized oil marketing company in the country.
“The company is not only operating here in Sierra Leone but is also functioning in neighboring Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and The Gambia,” it was stated Management, and the question was asked rhetorically if that is the case how can it be true that the company is cash-strapped or does not has enough resources to operate as a viable business entity.
According to the Management of the company, NP-SL Ltd is an open book that anybody could read maintaining that the company has nothing to hide further underscoring that they are very transparent in their dealings.
It was highlighted that if any individual or institution wants to secure any information about the company they could either contact the petroleum regulator or the Corporate Affairs Commission to have any authentic information they require.
Management added how some who had investigated the company in the past with the avowed aim of finding something fishy went back ashamed because they discovered the good work that the company is doing in the country.
It was mentioned that they will refer Peter Beckley to the Regulator, the Ministry of Trade, and the Ministry of Finance, and from there he will discover that his utterances were in complete variance with the views, thoughts, and facts known by officials of those institutions who are all part of the Government.
The company’s Management revealed how from January 2022 to date the company imported 112,491,596 metric tonnes of fuel costing over $111M.
It was hammered that people should stop thinking that Sierra Leone is the only country that is currently facing a fuel crisis.
Management pointed out that Ghana is facing a looming fuel shortage as the Central Bank rations dollars after oil prices surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Also stated was how the monthly fuel import bill for the West African nation jumped to $450 million in May, from $250 million in January.
According to the company’s officials, the Central Bank of Ghana is only offering about $100 million a month at its foreign exchange auctions and licensed bulk petroleum distributors can no longer plug the shortfall in the black market.
Management, however, assured that NP-SL Ltd will continue to do the good work it has been doing throughout the years in the country by ensuring that petroleum products are available at all times.
“NP-SL Ltd will remain to be 1st for Customer Care,” it was said with pride.
