• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Why fuel queues are resurfacing across the country

fuel queues

A supply gap created by lack of proper planning for importation fuel by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for the second quarter of this year may have been responsible for the queues being witnessed at filling stations in some cities across the country.

A BusinessDay investigation has revealed that it is not there is no fuel at all but what is on ground may not be enough to circulate round the filling stations across the country, hence the queues already being witnessed in some filling stations in Lagos and its environs.

Some of the operators of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry told BusinessDay weekend that there it was not that there is no fuel at all, but what is on ground cannot go round.

“If NNPC says there is fuel, yes there is fuel. But can it go round and sufficient meet the demand of consumers currently no,”, an anonymous operators said.

Some of the depots operators where NNPC has throughput arrangement told BusinessDay that the organization has been rationing supply among its retail outlets and things may get worse if the NNPC fails to arrest the situation.

Some of the companies said in time past they load about 100 or 130 trucks in a week but now they hardly able to load 40 trucks.

Meanwhile the major oil marketers Association of Nigeria MOMAN has said that all it members have petrol in their depot storage tanks and are loading out petrol to all its filling station.

“MOMAN members have petrol in their depot storage tanks and are loading out petrol to all its filling stations.

MOMAN members will continue to receive petrol into their storage tanks from NNPC vessels at berth and lined up for discharge throughout the weekend and will keep its stations replenished and operational throughout this period to serve the public and to kill the queues at filling stations. MOMAN members urge the public to avoid panic buying as there is enough product supply in the distribution system to meet public demand,” Clement Isong, chief executive officer of MOMAN stated.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has it reaction to this development appealed to Nigerians to disregard trending social media report of an impending fuel scarcity due to purported refusal by some oil marketers to lift products from depots.

The NNPC in a release this evening by Ndu Ughamadu, group general manager, Group Public Affairs Division explained that the tale was fabricated by mischief makers with intent to create undue panic in the prevailing sanity in the fuel supply and distribution matrix across the country.

NNPC informed that it has over 1billion litres of petrol in stock while Imports of 48 vessels of 50million litres each have been committed for the month of April 2019 alone noting that there was no need for panic buying or hoarding of petroleum products in anticipation of a phantom scarcity.

The NNPC Spokesman said the pump price of petrol remains N145 per litre.

 

Olusola Bello