Nigeria: Fuel Availability & Shortages Reflect Bigger Problem

The reality appears to be an effort to keep product on ships and other storage areas to ensure high fuel prices are maintained at the fuel dispensers.  It is the independent petrol retailers who suffer as a result as they are depending on NNPC or its subisidiaries for supply.

Independent fuel retailers who spoke to local media  back up this claim. One of the independent marketers also said that his company loaded only 30 trucks  as against an average of 80 trucks when prices are ‘normal’. “If NNPC has products on the sea, can we go there to get the products? They have to discharge the products to the private depots they hired for us to go there and lift products. The problem is the same at MRS and Oando. They have paid for the products and they have NNPC tickets but have not been able to get fuel products for a number of days.  Up to now, it is claimed if you had your account up to date  and had your NNPC fuel collection ticket, you go to any of the private depots and lift products within 14 hours. But now it takes up to one week to get products after you have paid,” he explained.

Meanwhile, a close source at the NNPC told Vanguard on phone that the present scarcity of petroleum products across the country is due to the scheme by marketers not to lift products as well as their refusal to sell the stock in their tanks thereby hoarding the products.

According to him, most of the marketers believe that the deregulation plan of the Federal Government was only put on hold because of the just concluded Under-17 World Cup tournament hosted by the country. “They believe that government would go back on the deregulation plan since the tournament has ended and as such there are uncertainties as to the pricing and availability of products.”

Another marketer told Vanguard that if the marketers, both majors and independent, had been given products, there would be no queues. He stated that under the new arrangement, it is only the NNPC that imports products, adding that the corporation claims to have enough on the high seas but none at the service stations owing to the problem of distribution.  He stated that though the government has given the marketers approval to import, it will take a few weeks before the cargoes start coming in.

Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, Mr. Femi Olawore, claim  NNPC is the problem.  But the Public Affairs Manager of PPMC, Mr. Ralph Ugwu insisted that PPMC has 40 days sufficiency and argued that there was no need for the queues. “As far as we are concerned, we have maintained the same level of supply as before. We have a robust supply and the queues are uncalled-for. We have over 40-day sufficiency and we have not changed our distribution system. There has not been any change in the supply situation”, he said.

PetrolWorld 191109