As the price of kerosene continues to
soar because of inadequate supply, marketers have been accused of
selling Jet A1, better known as aviation fuel, as kerosene, in the
process making a kill of N50-N100 per litre.
The diversion of the product to fuel
outlets where it is sold as household kerosene has also been blamed for
the scarcity of Jet A1 and several flight cancellations and delays in
the aviation sector in the last one month, THISDAY has learnt.
Kerosene and jet fuel are nearly
identical in every way except for a few additives in modern jet fuel,
with industry experts describing the latter as nothing other than
cleaner kerosene with no sulphur content.
However, the scarcity of foreign
exchange in the country has made it very difficult for oil marketers to
import and supply petroleum products that would sufficiently meet the
needs of consumers.
As such, several marketers have
started diverting Jet A1 to fuel outlets where it is sold as kerosene at
a higher price than aviation fuel.
Aviation fuel sells for between N198 and N200 in Lagos while kerosene goes for N200 to N300 per litre.
THISDAY investigations revealed that
marketers now prefer to sell Jet A1 as kerosene after degrading it and
that explains the scarcity of aviation fuel in the past one month,
leading to flight cancellations and delays.
Informed sources confirmed that
aviation fuel is highly refined kerosene with zero sulphur, which when
used for cooking leaves the pot without soot.
But instead of importing kerosene, oil
marketers import aviation fuel because almost all modern refineries in
the world no longer refine kerosene owing to the low demand for the
product as a heating oil in several countries.
However, Nigeria’s refineries, which
were built between the 1960s and 1980s still produce kerosene and unlike
refining plants in other parts of the world, the Nigerian plants have
not been upgraded to refine only diesel, petrol and Jet A1.
A seasoned aeronautical engineer and
pilot, who operates a non-scheduled flight out of Lagos, told THISDAY at
the weekend that the current scarcity of aviation fuel would persist
until marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
begin to import sufficient kerosene to meet consumers’ demands.
The source told THISDAY that every jet engine can use kerosene, but Jet A1 is of higher quality because it has no sulphur.
“Nigerian airlines will not have
adequate supply of Jet A1 as long as kerosene is scarce and sells at
higher price than aviation fuel. So the solution to the current scarcity
is for NNPC to import massive volumes of kerosene, which is a product
required by ordinary Nigerians.
“For us in the industry, we have
always known that very few refineries in the world still refine
kerosene, excluding Nigeria refineries, and besides higher quality
refining, there is really not much different between Jet A1 and kerosene
because jet engines can use kerosene.
“The marketers make almost N50 per
litre in every litre of aviation fuel sold as kerosene and everyone
wants to make as much profit as possible these days when things are very
tough.
“People are looking for ways to make
money and there is nothing wrong in this, except that the desire to make
more profit by the marketers is threatening air transport in Nigeria.
“When we keep Jet A1 for a long time
of up to six months, we cannot use it to operate our aircraft again, so
we give it out and it is sold as kerosene,” the source said.
The allegation was confirmed by the
Chairman of the Petroleum Downstream Group of the Lagos Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, Mr. Ken Abazie, who said that the issue of
scarcity of aviation fuel could not be taken in isolation, noting that
the increasing inability of a lot of importers to open Letters of Credit
(LC) due to inadequate availability of FX was the greatest challenge in
the importation of petroleum products today, including aviation fuel.
“It has also been reported that
because kerosene is currently in short supply in the country, it is
being sold at a premium price by importers, and so it is also speculated
that some importers of Jet A1 downgrade the product and sell it as Dual
Purpose Kerosene (DPK).
“So the combination of these two
factors in recent months have led to the scarcity of aviation fuel with
all the attendant hardship on airlines and air travellers in the
country,” Abazie said.
SOURCE THISDAY
