Fuel Queues Return to Lagos, Abuja, Others Over Supply Glitches by NNPC
- Long queues have continued to surface in different parts of the country over renewed petrol scarcity
- A source explained that the queue is a result of supply issues as most marketers depend on the NNPC's cheap fuel
- The sources explained that loading disruption issues persisted in the NNPC in the last couple of days
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over three years of experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
A long queue was noticed in some filling stations on Monday, February 6, as petrol scarcity resumed across some parts of the country.
Source: Getty Images
It was also observed that most filling stations in Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja were closed to cars yesterday.
Long lines of cars formed at the pumps of the handful that were open to the public. Most stations that dispensed gasoline had a single pump, which made the lines longer.
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NNPC offer most friendly price
Some NNPCL station managers told The Nation that the pressure on NNPCL's supply is the direct cause of the gasoline shortfall at their stations.
They clarified that most, if not all, marketers now rely on the company for petrol supply since it gives the most competitive ex-distribution price for the commodity.
One source said:
“NNPCL sells petrol at about N550 per litre ex-depot price compared to other private depots that sell at N620 per litre. So, it makes more economic and business sense for other dealers to buy from NNPCL instead of from private depots because of the price differential.
“Unfortunately, this has now put NNPCL under pressure, which has made it unable to meet up. For two weeks now, the firm has not been able to meet the supply demands of marketers, including those of us under its franchise. My station has been waiting for one week now, and we have yet to load at the NNPCL depot even though we are under its franchise. I am sure things will ease up soon.”
The loading disruption at NNPCL depots across the nation has been a significant difficulty for marketers over the last two weeks, according to Abubakar Maiganda, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), who confirmed the situation.
Afraid that the situation would worsen, Maigandi warned that shortage issues would arise for the country if nothing changes soon.
He also made an urgent plea for the supply fault to be resolved.
He said:
“The queue situation we are witnessing now is about loading issues. Most of our (IPMAN) trucks are there in Lagos and we are not getting opportunity to load. So, the problem has to do with supply and loading.
"We have yet to hear anything from the NNPCL on this. Even as IPMAN, we are not getting our allocation from NNPCL despite our pact with them. We cannot go to other private depots because their prices are too high, and it doesn’t benefit us to buy from them because how much are we going to sell that to the public.
Femi Soneye, the general manager of corporate communications at NNPCL, told The Nation that the company has more than enough goods to meet the market. Thus, there are no supply problems.
He explained:
“We don’t have any supply issue; we have products available. The tightness you are seeing is that there are price differentials, and this is not peculiar to us alone; it happens all over the world. So folks go to wherever they can get it cheaper. So we have products available, and there are no issues at all,”
NNPCL marketers speak on new fuel price
Legit.ng reported that NNPC Limited has reiterated that there are no plans to raise gas pump prices, according to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
This guarantee was provided by IPMAN President Abubakar Maigandi, who also emphasised that the existing N600 and N630 per litre pump prices would not alter unless instructed by NNPCL.
According to reports, Maigandi disclosed that NNPCL provides marketers with gasoline at a rate of N568 per litre.
Legit.ng also reported earlier that oil marketers speculated new petrol price.
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Source: Legit.ng
