Nigerians Face Bleak Christmas As Depots Dry Up, Worsen Fuel Scarcity

The queues for petrol, which were gradually abating recently, suddenly re-emerged on Wednesday in many cities, including Lagos and Abuja. 

The Eagle reports that many depots were currently running out of the product, a development that reduced supplies from depots to retail stations across the country.

Read Also: NNPC Slashes Price For Marketers To Reduce Petrol Price, Ease Scarcity

The development clearly shows that Nigerians face bleak Christmas as fuel scarcity has started taking a toll on motorists, who have hiked their fares.

In Abuja, many filling stations, particularly those of independent oil marketers, remained closed due to a lack of products, while the few outlets of major marketers that dispensed petrol started witnessing queues from mid-day till evening on Wednesday, Punch reports.

The Conoil and Total filling stations located directly opposite the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited witnessed queues on Wednesday afternoon till evening.

Similarly, a filling station opposite Transcorp Hilton Hotel in the Federal Capital Territory started witnessing massive queues in the evening, despite the fact that the gates of the outlet were shut to motorists, as attendants at the station tried to offload a fuel tanker.

The brief period when the queues cleared was basically due to the intervention of the Department of State Services after the DSS ordered the NNPCL to address the situation, Oil marketers told Punch.

They stated that the order to the NNPCL and marketers made the national oil company to release large volumes of the product but stressed that this only addressed the fuel crisis briefly.

The Secretary, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, said there was still a PMS supply shortfall from the NNPCL, stressing that the re-emerging queues in Lagos, Abuja and other cities had revealed this.

He said the NNPCL was focusing on the city centres of Abuja and Lagos, while neglecting areas that were far away from cities, adding that aside from queues in these areas, the cost of petrol in those locations was higher than N200/litre.

Shuaibu said, “There’s a shortfall in supply but the NNPCL will be telling you not to panic, and that they have products when we cannot see them. Look at our depots, our tanks are empty.

“No petroleum marketer that used his money or borrowed money from the bank to build and invest in a filling station will lock up his station at the end of the day without any cogent reason.”

Asked whether depots in Abuja were empty, for instance, the Suleja Depot, Shuaibu replied, “It is. Any product you see today that comes through the Suleja Depot is by bridging.

“And when you go down south, you’ll be buying from depot owners at a high price. That is why the NNPCL should be held responsible. It should explain why the product is not in circulation.”

The fuel scarcity worsened despite the claim by NNPC that it had imported over 2.5 billion litres of petrol, enough to keep the country wet during the festive season, The PUNCH observed.

Oil marketers told The PUNCH in Lagos that private depot owners kept increasing prices, as petrol was currently sold to filling stations at more than N200/litre depending on the arrangement with each retail outlet.

The association recently issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government over price disparities, as regards the amount which products were being sold to its members and members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria.

Akinrinnade revealed that MOMAN members and depot owners were buying directly from NNPCL at the regulated price of N148/litre, while IPMAN members had to buy from private depots for N220/litre.

Filling stations belonging to NNPCL dispensed petrol at N169/litre, members of MOMAN sold theirs at N170/litre, while IPMAN members were selling at about N250/litre depending on the location.

It was observed that many motorists and other fuel users scrambled to get fuel at N169/litre from NNPCL retail stations, thereby worsening traffic gridlock on the expressway.

The Executive Secretary, Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, Olufemi Adewole, told The PUNCH that as of last week, the price for renting a vessel jumped from between $65,000/$75,000 per day some few months ago, to $80,000 per day.

A reliable source close to the matter, had also hinted The PUNCH that both NNPC and depot owners had vowed to henceforth operate on a “recover all cost” policy.

The spokesperson for the NNPCL, Garba-Deen Muhammad, repeatedly declined to speak on the fuel scarcity issue, despite several calls and messages sent to his official line and email.