• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

NNPCL attributes recurring queue to elections restrictions

NNPC pays N140.55bn for Oando-branded retail stations, jetty, others

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that the recurring queue for fuel is as a result of the business and movement restrictions during the elections and has called for calm, assuring sufficient supply in March.

In a statement signed by Garba Deen Muhammad, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, the company urged Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol adding that normalcy should be restored in the next few days.

“However, operations have now resumed at the depots and trucks are being dispatched to various parts of the country,” Muhammad stated.

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He said according to the company’s latest updates released on Saturday, a total of 2.1 billion litres of PMS stock, representing 0.9 billion litres in all the land depots nationwide and 1.2 billion litres on marine vessels, which is equivalent to 35 days sufficiency as of March 4, 2023, is available.

“We plan to close the month of March 2023 with about 2.8 billion litres, which is equivalent to 47 days of sufficiency; NNPC Ltd. and all its partners and stakeholders will continue to work together to ensure seamless distribution of petroleum products around the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections,” the statement read.

BusinessDay observed that on Wednesday, filing stations like Salbas and Shema located on airport road, Lugbe, NNPCL and A.A Rano located in Kuje, were filled with motorists queuing for fuel.

However some filing stations were closed while black market operators took to the streets. Pump price of fuel was N195 except in A.Y Mai Kifi in Kuje which sold at N220 per litre.