Fuel scarcity: Marketers blame supply shortfall

As motorists and other users of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) struggled to get the product at filling stations on Monday, oil marketers blamed the worsening fuel scarcity on supply shortfall, which they said had not been fixed.
Many filling stations were shut in Lagos and parts of Ogun State, while the few stations that had the product recorded long queues of desperate motorists that stretched for kilometres and spilled onto the roads, disrupting the flow of traffic.
Commuters were seen at many bus-stops struggling to get commercial vehicles to different destinations, even as transport operators increased the fares by as much as 100 per cent on most routes.
Motorists lamented that they had to spend many hours in queues for fuel, while some petrol seekers with jerry cans were seen complaining that they had to part with extra money to get the product.
In Lagos, many of the private depots in Apapa, where many marketers get petroleum products from for distribution to other states, did not have the PMS to load.
A motorist, Idris Akande, told one of our correspondents that he had to wake up very early in the morning to go to a filling station and had to queue for some hours before he could get the product, adding, “The government needs to do something about the situation.”
A taxi driver at Berger, who identified himself simply as Mr. Peace, said, “To get fuel now is not an easy task. The little fuel I have now will be used to convey passengers in the evening. I can’t go to filling stations to queue again; the stress is just too much. If I am not able to buy fuel tomorrow, I will park my car at home.”
The Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, Mr. Olufemi Adewole, said the supply shortfall had yet to disappear, adding that only a few of the body’s members had been programmed to load the product.
“But until I see them receive products and trucking out, I can’t say that the situation has changed. We can only sell what we have. The NNPC can tell us when they will bring enough products to meet people’s needs. One thing I know is that everybody is working round the clock,” he added.
The National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, said, “The problem is that the import (of petrol) is being handled almost 100 per cent by the NNPC because private importers have already backed out because the increase in crude price has made the landing cost to enter subsidy.
“When crude price hit $59 per barrel was when you could not sell petrol again at N145 per litre if you are importing on your own. It is only the government (NNPC) that is importing and can warehouse the subsidy.”
He also stated the nation’s refineries that had not been functioning as expected had contributed to the current shortfall in the supply of petroleum products in the country.
Asked about the level of supply to IPMAN members, Osatuyi said, “Our members buy from private depot and get supply from the PPMC/NNPC depots that are functioning; they also bridge from Port Harcourt, Lagos and Warri to other parts of the country. But now that there is a short supply, the bridging also has reduced. The supply to our members has reduced.”
He expressed the association’s readiness to cooperate with the NNPC to ensure an end to the scarcity soon.
A top official of a Lagos-based oil marketing company told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that their depot was not loading the PMS as they had run of stock since last week.
He said the vessel that came in on Friday night was still pumping as of Monday afternoon, with companies such as Total, Mobil, Conoil, Nipco and Aiteo receiving from it.
“All the three jetties in Apapa – Petroleum Wharf Apapa, Bulk Oil Platform and New Oil Jetty – are all free; there are no vessels there now. Until there are vessels on the ground to supply, what we are currently doing is just like scratching the surface,” the official stated.
In Abuja and neighbouring states of Nasarawa and Kaduna, the queues for petrol persisted on Monday despite the assurances of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Long queues of motorists were seen in front of the few filling stations that dispensed petrol in Abuja, while many other outlets remained shut.