Fuel Scarcity Worsens As Federal Government Assures of Adequate Supply
Tuesday, 03 March 2015 05:01
Written by Daniel Adugbo & Mohammed Shosanya
Nigerian Daily Trust
Fuel scarcity that hit parts of the country recently continued yesterday in many parts of the nation, Daily Trust gathered.
Reports from various states say there were long queues at the few filling stations that are dispensing fuel yesterday.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its downstream subsidiaries have assured that the scarcity will fizzle out in the next three days.
The scarcity persisted in most filling stations across the FCT as motorists spent long hours queuing to buy fuel.
Some motorists who spoke to our reporter said they spent the whole day queuing to buy fuel as filling stations opened their entrance at noon.
Baba Agbola, a taxi driver lamented that he could only start his business at 4 pm after he managed to buy petrol with help from a brother who works at the filling station.
Some filling stations, our reporter gathered, limited sales to motorists to only ten litres, prompting protests and condemnation from motorists who spent long hours on queue.
An independent marketer who doesn’t want his name in print told our reporter that the situation has persisted because private depots are selling at N85 per litre while NNPC depots sold at N77.66 making it difficult for them to make profit.
In Kaduna, Kano and Lagos the story is the same. In Lagos metropolis commuters were stranded in bus stops. Some of the stations in Ikeja, Ikorodu road and Lagos Island monitored by our correspondents yesterday were still shut to customers due to the scarcity of the product.
Meanwhile,Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria(MOMAN) says it stopped importing fuel into the country since last month due to the mounting debt Federal government owed its members.
In Kano, motorists have to drive 30 to 40 km from the city centre to get the fuel at black market which were selling above N87/litre
Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria(MOMAN) Olawore Obefemi told reporters in Lagos yesterday that it stopped importing fuel into the country since last month due to the mounting debt Federal Government owed its members, the development that was responsible for the lingering fuel crisis in the country.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC gave the assurance when he toured some filling stations in Central Area, Abuja.
The GMD was accompanied by Mr Farouk Ahmed, Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Executive Secretary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Prince Haruna Momoh and Mr. George Osahon, Director Department of Petroleum Resources.
Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed explained that some of the challenges that led to the scarcity were being addressed.
He said “The issues with the marketing companies have to do with Letter of Credit openings with the commercial banks. They had issues concerning their payment which has been addressed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and banks now have started opening their Letters of Credit.
The MD of PPMC Prince Haruna Momoh on his part assured that it has more than enough in stock for the entire nation.
He said “There is a good build up now till April. With this build up, we are very confident that we will not have any problem in terms of supply…there are challenges with distribution and we will continue to handle those challenges.”
The PPMC MD added that one of the major challenges it has in terms of distribution is the lack of pipeline, “In a situation like this, if we had our pipelines fully in shape then within a day or two, we would have been able to clear the situation because our supply is much more robust as at today”
Also speaking, the Director DPR, Mr George Osahon ruled out the possibility of shutting down erring filling stations but hinted that it will enlist the support of law enforcement officers to ensure marketers comply with petroleum laws.
“We will not shut down filling stations so that we don’t cause too much hardship for other people but anybody that hoards, we will make sure that they sell the fuel and penalize them thereafter because we will not condone that,” he said.
He said the DPR will ensure that those that have fuel don’t hoard them and that people don’t also divert petroleum products.
Written by Daniel Adugbo & Mohammed Shosanya
Nigerian Daily Trust
Fuel scarcity that hit parts of the country recently continued yesterday in many parts of the nation, Daily Trust gathered.
Reports from various states say there were long queues at the few filling stations that are dispensing fuel yesterday.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its downstream subsidiaries have assured that the scarcity will fizzle out in the next three days.
The scarcity persisted in most filling stations across the FCT as motorists spent long hours queuing to buy fuel.
Some motorists who spoke to our reporter said they spent the whole day queuing to buy fuel as filling stations opened their entrance at noon.
Baba Agbola, a taxi driver lamented that he could only start his business at 4 pm after he managed to buy petrol with help from a brother who works at the filling station.
Some filling stations, our reporter gathered, limited sales to motorists to only ten litres, prompting protests and condemnation from motorists who spent long hours on queue.
An independent marketer who doesn’t want his name in print told our reporter that the situation has persisted because private depots are selling at N85 per litre while NNPC depots sold at N77.66 making it difficult for them to make profit.
In Kaduna, Kano and Lagos the story is the same. In Lagos metropolis commuters were stranded in bus stops. Some of the stations in Ikeja, Ikorodu road and Lagos Island monitored by our correspondents yesterday were still shut to customers due to the scarcity of the product.
Meanwhile,Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria(MOMAN) says it stopped importing fuel into the country since last month due to the mounting debt Federal government owed its members.
In Kano, motorists have to drive 30 to 40 km from the city centre to get the fuel at black market which were selling above N87/litre
Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria(MOMAN) Olawore Obefemi told reporters in Lagos yesterday that it stopped importing fuel into the country since last month due to the mounting debt Federal Government owed its members, the development that was responsible for the lingering fuel crisis in the country.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC gave the assurance when he toured some filling stations in Central Area, Abuja.
The GMD was accompanied by Mr Farouk Ahmed, Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Executive Secretary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Prince Haruna Momoh and Mr. George Osahon, Director Department of Petroleum Resources.
Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed explained that some of the challenges that led to the scarcity were being addressed.
He said “The issues with the marketing companies have to do with Letter of Credit openings with the commercial banks. They had issues concerning their payment which has been addressed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and banks now have started opening their Letters of Credit.
The MD of PPMC Prince Haruna Momoh on his part assured that it has more than enough in stock for the entire nation.
He said “There is a good build up now till April. With this build up, we are very confident that we will not have any problem in terms of supply…there are challenges with distribution and we will continue to handle those challenges.”
The PPMC MD added that one of the major challenges it has in terms of distribution is the lack of pipeline, “In a situation like this, if we had our pipelines fully in shape then within a day or two, we would have been able to clear the situation because our supply is much more robust as at today”
Also speaking, the Director DPR, Mr George Osahon ruled out the possibility of shutting down erring filling stations but hinted that it will enlist the support of law enforcement officers to ensure marketers comply with petroleum laws.
“We will not shut down filling stations so that we don’t cause too much hardship for other people but anybody that hoards, we will make sure that they sell the fuel and penalize them thereafter because we will not condone that,” he said.
He said the DPR will ensure that those that have fuel don’t hoard them and that people don’t also divert petroleum products.
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