The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) says the association will support Federal Government’s petroleum industry policies including the policy on deregulation.

Mr Adetunji Oyebanji, Chairman of the Association, said this in a communique issued on Tuesday in Lagos after a Chief Executive Officers’ Strategy Retreat organised by MOMAN, which ended in Abuja on Saturday.

Oyebanji said the policies remained the only way of achieving a robust and sustainable downstream petroleum industry.

The retreat was centred on effective sustainable development of the industry.

Oyebanji said the two-day retreat recognised the outstanding work done by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure continuous supply of petroleum products in 2018 and 2019, especially during electioneering.

He also lauded the improved collaboration between NNPC, especially Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and MOMAN.

He said the association would proactively collaborate with government toward the development of the downstream petroleum industry including renewable and alternative energies in the country.

Oyebanji said that the association was also poised to optimise and reduce supply chain costs through better collaboration and use of technology.

He noted that MOMAN would ensure development and compliance with an industry self-regulatory regime to support the industry regulator and raise Nigeria’s safety, technical and quality standards in fulfillment of the government’s national petroleum policy.

“MOMAN is committed to improving customer service and the deployment of technology in the protection of the customer and ultimately the business. We also acknowledge that we need to support the regulatory agencies by adopting internal self-regulation practices if we want the industry to operate at acceptable international levels”.

“MOMAN will focus on service to the Nigerian customer at retail outlets and toward this purpose, use training of forecourt employees, managerial competencies development and technology.This will ensure that the Nigerian customer gets full value for the products and services being paid for,” Oyebanji said.

The MOMAN boss gave assurance of training and development of Nigerians in important disciplines, including engineering, management and strategy.

According to him, the association will also establish a think-thank of professionals to tackle industry issues and proffer workable solutions to identified problems.

Oyebanji said that part of its strategic policy objectives was to create a market-driven oil and gas industry, cost efficient storage, transportation and distribution of petroleum products.

Oyebanji also said the association was ready to impact positively on its new members.

He said, “To have a more inclusive MOMAN and begin the process of opening our doors to new members, as well as share our savoir-faire and international best practices from our heritage and experience of over a hundred years in the industry. ”

He said that the association would continue to strengthen partnership with NNPC to ensure seamless supply of petroleum products across the country.

Oyebanji, however, lauded PPMC for being a dependable ally in the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.

He said that the corporation was a force to be reckoned with in the downstream sector of the petroleum Industry.

“We have an outstanding relationship with NNPC and its downstream subsidiary, the PPMC. We will continue to improve on the relationships to take the downstream sector of the oil and gas Industry to enviable heights,” he said

He also reiterated MOMAN’s plans to strengthen its support for Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Others are Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other regulatory agencies which impact the downstream sector to improve product transportation. (NAN)