Fuel Scarcity: Queues Worsen As Users Wait On

Fuel Scarcity: Queues Worsen As Users Wait On As many parts of Nigeria are hit again with fuel scarcity, there are long queues.

Fuel scarcity persists, as many filling stations run out of the product due to supply-related issues while users wait.

Reports gathered reveal that filling stations are closing their gates to motorists and other product consumers due to concerns over safety and security.

The scarcity of the product has drastically increased the operations of Illegal Operators, known as black marketers, who now sell the products to desperate buyers at exorbitant prices.

Black marketers are seen hawking the product with panic buyers, ready to pay any proposed price, on patronising them.

Along Oshodi-Abule Egba roads and various parts of Lagos, these illegal operators’ activities have become very apparent without the presence of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, NMDRA, industry regulator, to enforce compliance.

In Ogun, around Opic, Mowe, and Ibafo, many stations have also run out of stock, which has given rise to black marketers operating at will. Many users are also seen with their jerrycans, ready to pay exorbitantly for the petroleum product.

Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)  is no exception. Reports also indicate that several filling stations have been shut down because they have run out of the product.

This is advantageous to the Black marketers who have now inflated the price and sold it between N1,300 and N1,500, depending on the locations and axes.

As of yesterday evening, reports were that NNPC and NIPCO filling stations still attend to their customers despite the stiff and unruly queues seen at their stations situated around Karu, Airport Road, Abuja.

Many sources have yet to confirm the root cause of the fuel shortage and scarcity. Still, a source close to NNPC Limited revealed that the body is blaming it for logistics challenges and continued flooding of coastal areas, which the government officials promised was already contained and would be laid to rest soon.

Reacting to the nationwide Snake-like queues, on Saturday, the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said the shortage and unavailability of the product was caused by anomalies in the discharge operations of some of the vessels.

“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is due to a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,” the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said.

He added, “We are working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations.”

Also, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources, has assured Nigerians that the situation is being addressed and the product will be available soon.

In a post via his verified social media, X (popularly known as Twitter) handle, the Minister said: “Dear Nigerians, I understand the frustration many of you are feeling due to the fuel queues in cities such as Abuja. Recent flooding on the trucking route and unavoidable logistical challenges due to weather concerns have temporarily disrupted our distribution chain.

“I assure you that our dedicated team is working round the clock to resolve these issues. We are committed to restoring normal fuel supply as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time”.

However, despite the assurance of the body that they were on it and normalcy would be restored soon, the situation worsened on Sunday, as seen at various filling stations in many states and cities across the country.

Some sources have confirmed that there is no loading yet at Apapa

Yesterday, on Sunday, various sources indicated that no trucks were being loaded at Apapa depots, highlighting the worsening situation ahead.

A source close to the depots disclosed that the Apapa depots were empty of the products after the supply operation on Saturday. The depots are dry.

On Sunday, in Abuja, the nation’s capital, it was revealed that some filling stations still sold the products at between N660 and N800 per litre before they ran out, as black marketers took advantage of the anxious seekers to hike the price and sell them at N1,500.

Meanwhile, reacting to the situation, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, said it was unknown to them what brought about the shortage and scarcity of Petroleum Products until the NNPC announced that they were on the situation and that it would be addressed soon.

“We marketers, too, are surprised that we couldn’t get fuel at depots as we used to. We were worried, too; we didn’t know the cause until the NNPC came out with a release on Saturday. Let’s just believe what the NNPC said, that they would arrest the situation,” Hammed Fashola said.

“I believe that within this week, everything will be normalised by the time they push products to the depots for marketers to pick from. Ours is to pick from the depots, take it into our stations, and dispense it to the public.

But for now, most of the depots are dry. The implication is that the stations will be dry, too. Most of our members have run out of stock. That is the cause of the queues we are experiencing now,” Fashola added.

Fuel Scarcity: Queues Worsen As Users Wait On.

It is to be noted that petrol price from private depots is sold for N700 per litre. This revelation came through him in his speech,

He said, “We are not yet getting direct supply from the NNPC as we should. What we are getting is so tiny compared to our population. That is why we are forced to go to the third parties, the private depot owners, and they are not helping with the price they are putting out there.

“That is why independent marketers sell around N800 or so. Until we address this issue of direct supply, there will be issues. We keep shouting to the NNPC to look at that area properly because something is fundamentally wrong with our distribution channel, and until they correct that, we will continue to have this issue of fuel scarcity.”

Meanwhile, Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigerians (PENGASSAN) called on the Federal Government to address the issues behind the fuel shortage and scarcity. Any issues, such as logistics and weather, presently impeding the product from getting to the final consumers must be addressed and eradicated.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/07/scarcity-fuel-shortage-queues-worsen-in-lagos-abuja-others/

Fuel Scarcity: Queues Worsen As Users Wait On

During his speech at the just-concluded Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Women Annual Convention, PWAC.

Mr. Osifo said on Tuesday: “We will continuously have perennial oil scarcity until we do what is right. No silver bullet today will stop the shortages that will come periodically. About a week ago, if you are driving between Ayele and Auchi, you realize that some people sleep on that road for two days, and the road is completely cut off.

“So, if you are bringing the product from Port Harcourt, for example, and coming to Abuja, you need to pass through that road, depending on where you are bringing the product from. So, the streets today are wrong. If you check different parts of the world, how many countries use tankers to supply PMS or AGO? It is not done. Naturally, what is done is the use of pipelines; in some cases, they use rails.

“If you go to the Western world, you see rails with over 2,000 tanks. Railway lines, whether in the rainy or dry seasons, are okay to go. So until we imbibe technology, fix our pipelines, and fix our depots, that is also key. If the depots we have and the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are all working, then we could have had reserve stocks in those depots. So that when our roads are wrong, we can get those depots closer to the major cities, and you have a fuel supply. Then, when the roads are reasonable, you restock them, and in the end, you return to business as usual.

“We must be able to deepen the facilities of oil and gas logistics. If we don’t do that, we will have it perennially. So, we must be able to sit down and define our distribution value chain in oil and gas logistics. Until we do that, this problem will be solved now, but in the next few months, it will come back.”

Similarly, in a related report a few days ago, PETROAN has tasked the Federal Government to tackle the problems of fuel shortage and scarcity affecting the country.

Billy Gillis-Harry, national president of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), said: “Snake-like queues have been seen at filling stations across the country. The situation has worsened traffic in states as the long queues spilled onto major roads, hindering vehicular movement. Thousands of people were stranded at bus stops, with transport fares doubling the previous amounts.

“Aside from NNPC filling stations selling at about N570 in Lagos, retail outlets owned by independent marketers jerked up their prices from about N615 to over N650. The prices are far higher in Abuja and other states.

“He confirmed that the NNPC, which imports petrol into the country and supplies marketers, has not changed its price, but “if we do not get the product directly from NNPC, we will get it from depots struggling to do everything to get products out in the market, so the prices will not be the same.”

In his speech, He disclosed that even if NNPC is working to maintain and upgrade its facilities and platform, it still does not stop them from finding other means to ensure that petroleum products are available.  Fuel scarcity emanated from a lack of supply of the product.

He added, “If anybody is to blame, it should be blamed on the source of the products because retailers only sell what we are given; we do not import or refine.”

Gillis-Harry revealed that petroleum products are becoming more expensive because trucks used to transport them to various filling stations across the country run on diesel, which is scarce and very expensive. The government should also subsidise the cost of logistics.

Also, Gillis-Harry blatantly rebuffed the claim that petrol marketers are self-seeking and only think of their pockets when extorting and enslaving Nigerians, saying petrol should not be sold for more than N680.

He continued, “I would expect that the highest price of petrol where the depots operate – Lagos, Delta, Calabar, Rivers State – should be anything between N620 to N680 maximum.

‘’When you add all the transportation issues that should take it from state to state, you can then look at the incremental additions that can come in and make us not to be selling at N1,000,” Gillis-Harry said.

When quizzed on why petrol is priced so high, he blamed forex shortages, which have militated against the importation of petroleum products into the country.

“If we are importing products in a way that the deregulation is set for us to be able to import, which we desire to do, but we are hamstrung by the unavailability of foreign exchange to make that endeavour work.

‘’Even though we don’t want Nigeria to be an import-centered place for PMS, we need PMS to be able to work until our refineries are producing,” he said.

Gillis-Harry concluded by imploring all Nigerians to exercise more patience and ensure that the present situation will end soon.

Fuel Scarcity: Queues Worsen As Users Wait On