The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has promised to stop the queues for Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, by Wednesday, after the black market for PMS boomed on Sunday.
NNPC also declared that it did not owe international oil merchants $6.8 billion, as previously reported, a development that some industry observers identified as a main cause of Nigeria’s severe PMS crisis.
However, despite the national oil firm’s pledge that fuel queues will be cleared this week, oil marketers reported on Sunday that product loading at depots had not improved.
Black petrol marketers who supplied the product in jerrycans took advantage of the circumstance, and they sold PMS for as high as N1,200 to N1,500 per litre, depending on the place of purchase.
NNPC, the sole importer of the commodity, blamed the fuel constraint on evacuation issues at PMS vessels.
Other merchants ceased importing the commodities because they couldn’t have access to the US dollar, which was essential for fuel imports.
Olufemi Soneye, NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, told one of our correspondents that the oil company was working hard to address the fuel supply difficulties, emphasising that the queues should be cleared by mid-week.
“It’s just an evacuation challenge out of Apapa (ports in Lagos) from the vessel. But we are working on it. It should be resolved. I’m very sure that fuel scarcity will be cleared out by Wednesday,” Soneye stated on Sunday.
He later issued a press statement on the matter, saying, “The NNPC Ltd. regrets the tightness in fuel supply witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT (Federal Capital Territory), which is as a result of distribution challenges.
“The company further urges motorists to shun panic buying as it is working round the clock with relevant stakeholders to restore normalcy.”
However, operators told reporters that the fuel supply situation at the depots hadn’t improved as of Sunday.
An official from one of Nigeria’s biggest petroleum companies stated that the company was out of stock.
“We don’t have supply yet. For us and many depots in Apapa, it’s nil stock,” the official, who spoke under anonymity due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.
