“Some NNPC Portals Shut Down”: Marketers Explain Fuel Scarcity, Long Queues in Lagos, Other Cities
- Marketers have explained the reasons for petrol scarcity in some major cities in Nigeria
- According to marketers, the NNPC remains the sole importer of PMS despite deregulation
- They also claimed most independent stations could not get supplies from the depots.
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Petrol stations in Lagos, Abuja, and other cities across the nation have seen queues grow longer.
According to marketers, this could be associated with the fact that depots are currently running low on supplies.
Marketers of petrol said claimed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the product's sole importer, was restricting supply to depots.
Source: UGC
Independent station unable to obtain fuel
The public relations officer for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Chinedu Ukadike, told Vanguard that the organisation confirmed the development.
He said most independent stations were unable to obtain items from the depots.
As the only importer of fuel into the nation, NNPC retails are the only source of supply for marketers all over the country, according to Ukadike.
He stated:
The issue we have is that most of the private depots have gone out of stock because they get supply from NNPC Limited. Since NNPC is the sole importer, these private depots that independents buy products from also depend on the NNPC for their supplies. This arrangement is also encouraging profiteering.
We have been finding it very difficult to pick products from NNPC in the past five days and that is why you are seeing the skeletal scarcity. It is not major yet. The important point here is that despite the deregulation, NNPC is still the sole importer of PMS and no other depot is importing.
Some of the portals owned by NNPC have shutdown and are no longer issuing authority to lift to marketers in some of their portals. This significantly shows that there is a gap in the chain of supply. But I was reassured by the MD of NNPC that they are expecting products and they will feed us very soon.
According to a downstream sector source, NNPC has reportedly implemented a policy of only supplying products to depot owners with at least 50 petrol stations.
Mele Kyari, the chief executive officer of the NNPC Group, earlier said there was no reason for panic because there were sufficient supplies.
A statement by NNPC Retails read:
NNPC Retail Ltd notes the appearance of fuel queues in some parts of Lagos and a few other locations around the country. This is due to reduced Depot loadout in Apapa, Lagos over a few days, and the root cause has since been addressed.
Meanwhile, there are indications that most retail stations nationwide may soon run out of fuel because only roughly 60% of depot owners have up to 50 retail stations.
NNPCL shuns Dangote Refinery, swaps crude oil for loan with others
In an earlier report by Legit.ng, a source in the NNPCL revealed the company signed crude oil contracts with several entities.
As contained in a Punch report, the development prevented the company from initially meeting Dangote's demand.
The Executive Director, Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, claimed in a Monday interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights that the NNPCL had committed its crude to other organisations.
Source: Legit.ng
