By Ayeotan Shola
Forte Oil Chairman, Femi Otedola, has reportedly affirmed his decision to begin sale of House Hold Kerosene (HHK) at the rate of N50 per litre.
This bold move marks a huge reduction in the current pump price by over 50 percent.
The kerosene which he fondly dubbed ‘Buhari Kerosene‘ will begin sale at all his fuel stations across the country.
This is in furtherance of his decision to identify with President Muhammadu Buhari’s bid to ameliorate the hardships faced by millions of Nigerians daily.
The Forte Oil boss had recently blown the lid off the activities of shady characters in the oil sector whom he blamed for selling House Hold Kerosene (HHK) as Jet A1 fuel, also called Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), to airline operators.
In a statement signed by him, Otedola revealed: “This illicit act has been identified as the major factor contributing to the rising cost of kerosene in the country and may also be the cause of some of the air mishaps we have encountered in the country in recent times.”
The Forte Oil boss stated that while HHK is sold by the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), an arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at the regulated price of N40.90k with the objective of selling to the average Nigerian at the pump price of N50 per litre, major HHK dealers sell the product to poor Nigerians at the pump price of N125 per litre.
And the development is attributable to the emergence of mushroom marketers who are desperate to make a killing by selling kerosene as Jet A1 fuel to major local and international airlines at the pump price of N140/litre or even higher.
He explained that this is possible because HHK shares some physical and chemical properties with Jet A1 fuel.
With his decision to sell HHK at N50/litre at all his fuel stations nationwide, Otedola will no doubt reduce the hardships foisted upon millions of Nigerian families by the prohibitive pricing of the cooking fuel.
