Nigerians in Lagos and other parts of the country are still struggling to get Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) as many filling stations remained under lock and key throughout the weekend.
Recall that the NNPC Ltd had blamed logistics bottlenecks as the primary reason for the long queues built up in filling stations in some parts of Nigeria, especially Lagos State and Abuja.
The resurface of long queues at the filling stations created fears of impending fuel scarcity and possible hike in price.
A statement made available to TECHECONOMY by Olufemi Soneye, the chief corporate communications officer of the NNPC Ltd. Reads:
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit currently being experienced in some areas across the country is as a result of logistics issues and that they have been resolved.
“It also wishes to reiterate that the prices of petroleum products are not changing.
“It urges Nigerians to avoid panic buying as there is a sufficiency of products in the country”.
However, eye witness account shows the situation might worsen in Lagos and other parts of the South-West like Ogun, Oyo, Osun and others because there was a directive by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) that fuel trucks must first service the Federal Capital Territory before any other place.
As a result, the majority of trucks leaving the depots in Lagos since Friday were heading for Abuja.
Officials of the NNPC Ltd and marketers told our correspondents that there was a directive that depots should service Abuja filling stations before any other part of the nation. They worried that queues might linger for the next three days in the South-West.
According to the oil sector sources, hundreds of trucks loaded on Saturday were sent to Abuja based on the NNPC Ltd directive.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press on the matter, also disclosed that the product was being rationed by the NNPC Ltd, which now allocates 5,000 metric tonnes of fuel instead of 10,000MT to depots.
“Because of the scarcity, there are directives that the product should be rationed. Depots now get about 220 trucks, which is half what they usually get. This is happening because of the erratic supply. If the NNPC Ltd had enough supply, it would give everybody what they needed, and there would be no queues,” one of the officials told Punch newspaper.
According to an operator, the erratic supply has been caused by the national energy company’s inability to import enough at the moment.
“The cause of the erratic supply is because the NNPC Ltd does not have enough fuel imported. Regardless of the money or anything, the NNPC Ltd sometimes experiences glitches in its supply. For example, at the NNPC Ltd Jetty in Apapa, as of Saturday, there was only one tanker at ASPM which can take about 40,000 metric tonnes; the three other reception points had no PMS vessel.
“Whenever the NNPC Ltd has disruptions in importation, we start having these issues. They will try hard to manage it, but it will later blow open. Last week, they said it was a result of logistics, but this is not about logistics; it’s about glitches in importation.
“All our trucks now are heading to Abuja. There was a directive to all dealers and marketers that they should serve Abuja first. All regulatory agencies know that products will go to Abuja until normalcy is restored. You can have your truck in the depot now for three to four days; they will just be telling you to hold on. You will not know what is happening. You will see other trucks going, not knowing their location determines their loading ahead of you,” the operator noted.
He added, “The South West will likely experience more queues in the next two to three days because the Abuja loading will continue until Monday. The government is prioritising Abuja; they want the seat of power to have enough fuel supply.”
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