The President Muhammadu Buhari led-federal government has assured Nigerians that there is no plan to increase the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) made this known in a statement released on Wednesday.
Kimchi Apollo, general manager of corporate communications, NMDPRA, issued the clarification amid speculations on the increase in price and availability of PMS — especially during the festive period.
He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited had imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.
“Consequently, marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products and hoarding,” the statement reads.
“In keeping with the Authority’s responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.”
In the last week, many Nigerians have been grappling with petrol scarcity with queues surfacing in filling stations across the country.
The situation has resulted in a boom in black market sales while there have been insinuations that oil marketers may be hoarding the product to force a hike in the price.
Some black marketers sold the product for between N320 and N350 per litre, Newsflash Nigeria gathered.
“We used to sell the product for N250 before now. But as the product has increased at fuel stations, we had no choice but to increase our price to N350 a litre,” one of the sellers in Lagos said.
Newsflash Nigeria witnessed queues across some filling stations while some others shut down services in the state — a situation motorists have had to put up with for about one week.
Long queues were seen at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited filling stations at Ishefun road, Ayobo and Oregun road, and Opebi, Ikeja.
Motorists also crowded an attendant at the Conoil filling station in Oregun and another at the filling station in Ikeja.
On the other hand, the MRS filling station at Ojota was closed due to a lack of adequate supply, according to a petrol attendant.
“The petrol station is closed because the supply we got is not enough. However, later in the day, we may still open later. We are still expecting more supplies later,” he said.
Eterna filling station in Oshodi was also closed.
Across the state, transport fares have also increased due to petrol scarcity.
“The price of the fare increased from N150 to N200,” a commuter said
“I had to queue under the sun for 12 minutes to board a minibus. Just imagine. Yesterday, I also had to queue to get petrol. It is tiring.”
Mike Osatuyi, the national operations controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said limited petroleum products at depots caused the scarcity.
“We don’t have fuel. If there is fuel, then we have something to sell. The little that’s available, we are buying at N205. When you add transport, that’s about N213 before you can add your profit. That’s the truth,” Osatuyi said.
“Even if you want to buy at N205 now, you won’t even see to buy.
“NNPC said the fuel is available, but we don’t see it. If we are able to see the fuel, that’s the only way we can confirm that the product is available. Let’s wait and see for the next few days.”
On Tuesday, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) blamed the situation on the distribution crisis caused by vandalism of depots belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited.
Meanwhile, the NNPC Limited has said the ongoing road projects in Lagos are partly to blame for petrol queues in the state.
Adeyemi Adetunji, executive vice-president, downstream, NNPC Limited, said the situation in Lagos is affecting the availability of the product in the federal capital territory (FCT).
“The recent queues in Lagos are largely due to ongoing road infrastructure projects around Apapa and access road challenges in some parts of Lagos depots,” he said.
“The NNPC has programmed vessels and trucks to unconstrained depots and massive loadouts from depots in various states are closely being monitored. Abuja is currently being impacted by the challenges recorded in Lagos.
“NNPC retail and other key marketers have intensified dedicated loading into Abuja to restore normalcy as soon as possible.”
