Scarcity looms as the depot raises the cost of fuel (see new price)
According to reports, private depot owners have increased fuel prices from ₦630 to ₦720 per litre.
On Sunday, petrol scarcity in Abuja and surrounding states worsened, with some filling stations charging up to ₦900 per liter.
According to Punch, shortages is progressively appearing in Lagos and Ogun, as a number of filling stations in the states have ran out of supply after refusing to buy high-priced fuel from private depots.
In an interview with the aforementioned website, Hammed Fashola, National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, stated that several filling stations did not open for business due to a lack of fuel in the tanks.
He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which is now the sole importer of petrol, should inform Nigerians about the situation with the commodity.
“Those who close their stations don’t have fuel to sell. When you don’t have fuel, you can’t open your station. That’s the problem. You are aware that the NNPC is the exclusive importer of this goods. I believe it is in the best position to tell us what is going on.
“Currently, independent marketers are unable to purchase what the private depots are selling. They sell fuel at between N715 and N720 per litre. How much will marketers sell the goods for? Consider the cost of delivering it to their depots, including transportation and other depot charges.
It will be too expensive for them. That is why the stations have been shut down. Some marketers refuse to go and buy because they realize the average person cannot afford high-priced gasoline in current economy. That is the current scenario,” the IPMAN chief added.
Previously, private depot owners sold PMS to independent marketers at a rate of ₦630-₦650/litre, while the NNPC distributes petrol to major marketers at a price of ₦600 or lower.
Several insiders verified to the media that NNPC officers stormed the several depots in Apapa on Friday.
forcing depot owners to prioritize petroleum supplies to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where fuel bottlenecks were first reported on Friday.
On Saturday and Sunday, numerous trucks were reportedly rerouted to Abuja to relieve congestion in the FCT, leaving Lagos and other areas with insufficient supplies.
One of the executives stated that the NNPC was rationing PMS to depots due to a fuel supply shortage.
When the magazine visited some petrol stations throughout the state, it discovered that some had raised the pricing of PMS.
Dealers shuttered retail outlets due to fuel shortages caused by private depot owners raising the ex-depot price to ₦710/litre.
Motorists swarmed the few petrol stations that remained open on Friday, mainly those run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and certain major oil marketers in Abuja and surrounding states.
It was noticed that the issue was spreading to Lagos. Only two of the approximately ten fuel stations along the Ikotun to Egbeda axis were dispensing at the time this report was filed.
In Ikotun, one of the NNPC outlets selling for ₦568 per litre had significant lineups, while others were not dispensing. Petrocam’s outlet on the Igando-Ikotun axis only sells for ₦820 per litre.
TotalEnergies outlet on Mushin Road in Isolo offered petrol for ₦615 per litre, with a huge queue of buyers.
Meanwhile, a Technoil filling station at Isolo Bustop was not selling fuel at the time this report was written.
The NNPC filling station on the same axis, selling at ₦568 a litre, was filled with cars.
