Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has accused private depot owners for the emerging queues at the petrol station in Lagos and other states just as NNPCL blames logistic problems for scarcity of petrol. The Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has attributed the current scarcity of petrol across the country to logistic problems. Olufemi Soneye, the NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja. The NNPCL also attributed the scarcity to adverse weather condition which affected berthing at jetties, truck load-outs and transportation of products to filling stations, disrupting station supply logistics. IPMAN National President, Abubakar Maigandi however, said “the private depots have petroleum products but selling at N715 per litre ex-depot price. The queues you are seeing are the artificial creation of depot owners, but we cannot allow them to keep doing things like this.” In Lagos, NNPCL sells petrol at N568 per litre so our members cannot buy at N715 and discharge in Lagos, and that is why there are queues in Lagos.
But in other places where our members can still add their margin even when they buy at N715 per litre from the private depots, there are no queues. You know that IPMAN controls over 80 per cent of petrol filling stations in the country, so once IPMAN is unable to sell petrol, there will be scarcity in the country.” Similarly, Executive Secretary of Major Energies Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, MEMAN, Clement Isong, said “the supply chain was disrupted for a few days last week following the heavy rain. Petrol cannot be loaded during rainstorm and lightening. The roads were flooded and trucks could either not move or were moving slowly. So, we lost two or three days of loading activities and it’s the back flow of this that has led to the queues. But the queues will disappear because petrol is very much available, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
NNPC also said it was impossible to load petrol during rainstorms and lightning due to flammability of petroleum products and in compliance with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) regulations. The statement reads “the NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the fuel queues seen in the FCT and some parts of the country, were as a result of disruption of ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, between Mother Vessels and Daughter Vessels resulting from a recent thunderstorm. The adverse weather condition has also affected berthing at jetties, truck load-outs and transportation of products to filling stations, causing a disruption in station supply logistics.
“The NNPC Ltd also states that due to flammability of petroleum products and in compliance with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) regulations, it was impossible to load petrol during rainstorms and lightning. Adherence to these regulations is mandatory as any deviation could pose severe danger to the trucks, filling stations and human lives. Similarly, the development was compounded by consequential flooding of truck routes which has constrained movement of PMS from the coastal corridors to the Federal Capital, Abuja.”
