As far as the fuel scarcity is concerned, the situation will persist, if not getting worse, going by confusion that has engulfed the down stream sector in recent times.
This is because NNPCL, which is saddled with the sole responsibility of importing the products and distributing them to private depots, is not forth coming on the actual situation of things, with regards to whether it is available for local consumption.
From flooding to lack of motorable roads, NNPCL keeps inaundating the public with stories and reasons for scarcity since last year.
The questions on the lips of most Nigerians are, whether these products are being actually imported and distributed; why the subsidy keeps rising in the midst of scarcity and attendant queues; who is actually in charge?
According to them, it would have been logical if the rising subsidy is followed by flooding of the products in Nigeria, decrying a situation of payments in the midst of scarcity.
In fact, metrobusinessnews.com (MBN) learnt that as at this morning, Friday, January, 20, 2023 no official communication about the new pump price has been communicated to both the marketers and the public by either the government or the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) or about insufficient supply.
Howver, the filling stations, particularly, NNPCL’s mega stations have reflected new prices of between MN192 and N185 per litre.
Before yesterday’s increment some independent filling stations were charging between N189. 50 to N250 per litre in cities like Lagos and Abuja, while in rural areas and towns, the product was going for between N250 to N350 per litre.
But, some marketers are paying depot prices of between N220 to N250 per litre from Lagos to other parts of the country, outside the cost of transportation.
In fact, amid the lingering nationwide fuel scarcity, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Friday said the volume of products supplied to marketers have dropped by about 40 percent, a development that keeps Nigerians asking of the essence of huge subsidy payments for the said importation, while qeues keep getting longer.IPMAN’s Deputy President, Zarma Mustapha, who made a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, monitored by MBN said the country is in a complex situation owing to the “burden of subsidy that government is carrying”, which he said is no more sustainable.
According to him, the volume of importation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the sole importer of Premium Motor Spirit otherwise called petrol, has been hitting hard on the “paucity of the funds” of the Federal Government.
“Because of that, the supply that we receive as marketers at the loading points, we believe we don’t get what we usually get – even 50 percent of what we get,” Mustapha said.
“Some [time] in July, August, the volume of liftings (sic) we had and what we have today has dropped by about 50 percent or 40 percent.”
The NNPC, on November 29, 2022, said it had a “national PMS stock of over 2 billion litres. This is equivalent to over 30 days of sufficiency”.
However, Mustapha theorised that the lingering presence of queues at fuel stations across the nation may be due to the high cost of subsidy.
“We are just assuming maybe the volume of the products they are bringing in – the more the volume, the more the cost of the subsidy,” he added.
“It doesn’t seem that they are bringing in more. If they’re bringing in more, we would be having the same volume that we usually get at the loading point.
“As of today, with what is trending (sic) in the private depots, the volume available is not enough. The private depots also contribute by not giving the product as it is being regulated by the NNPC.”
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Mustapha pointed out that he had not heard any official statement from NNPC or the industry’s regulatory body, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) about insufficient supply.
According to the IPMAN deputy president, NNPC is saddled with importing the products and distributing them to private depots, adding that independent marketers do not have depots.
“But with the look of things, [with] what is going on at the loading point, the product is not enough as they usually bring it, supply it to the private depots and we purchase from the private depots,” he said.
“Yesterday, I bought a product in Lagos at a depot at N247 per litre to be transported down to the far North at the cost of N50-N60 per litre. Even we as independent marketers don’t really understand what is happening.
“As of yesterday, it is going for about N240 in Lagos, N235 in Warri, and N240 in Port Harcourt. In Calabar, it’s as high as N250 per litre.
“As a marketer, you will buy that product for upward transmission to where your retail outlet is. You’ll transport it yourself,” he said.
