Foreign exchange scarcity and the protracted oil price plunge is threatening activities in the downstream subsector of the petroleum industry, the Chief Executive Officer, OVH Energy Marketing Limited (formerly Oando Marketing Limited), Yomi Awobokun has said.
Awobokun stated this while fielding questions from newsmen during the formal presentation of name change of Oando Marketing Limited to OVH Energy Marketing Limited in Lagos yesterday.
He said OVH represents the new shareholders of the firm comprising Oando, Vitol and Helios. Although the corporate name has changed, the products of the firm are licensed to be marketed as Oando in order to sustain the Oando heritage and entrepreneurship.
Awobokun said: “All the shareholders agreed that a name change will boost the capacity of the company but to sustain the Oando heritage and entrepreneur OVH is licensed to market its products as Oando. Our intention is grow our reach stabilise prices and supplies and add value to our shareholders.
“The major value of this partnership is that it enabled access to capital by Oando. The downstream has been going through significant challenges including the unavailability of forex, drop in crude price and as a result of the entire externalities the economy is going through. The future leaders of this industry are those that are able to access capital. So the best of the deal is that it puts Oando to access capital and ensure supply. The partnership puts us in good stead to dominate the market.”
On the allegation of sale of off-spec fuel, he said the report was malicious because it was very difficult for any marketer to import off-spec and it would be an international non-governmental organisation that would discover that.
