By Abiola Olawale
Following scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, oil marketers have accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of not giving the real reason for scarcity of the most sought-after commodity.
This is as the oil marketers reject claim by the NNPCL that the logistics challenge is the cause of the scarcity of petrol, saying that the current development is bigger than that.
The New Diplomat reports that filling stations across the country have been greeted by long queues.
The scarcity has driven up prices in Lagos to ₦850 per litre in some filling stations belonging to Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and as high as ₦1,200 per litre at the black market.
The NNPCL, in its reaction, blamed the development on logistics challenges. The spokesperson for the company, Olufemi Soneye, said last week that the challenges had been resolved.
However, speaking with the press, the Chairman of IPMAN Satellite Depot, Lagos, Akin Akinrinade, said oil marketers are in the dark about the nature of those challenges.
He wondered why the NNPCL failed to sell fuel to oil marketers despite claiming it has over 240 million litres in its store.
He said: “Do you blame oil marketers for the current situation? If NNPCL gives us products, we will sell them because we are businessmen.
“We are in this business to make money, so we won’t keep products in our tanks if we have.
“They (NNPCL) said they have a logistics problem, and have 240 million litres in store to distribute. That was what they told us since last weekend. They said the logistics challenges had been resolved but they didn’t tell us the type of logistics problem they have.
“For now, NNPCL stations are mostly the ones selling with just a few others getting supply. But you know our members have the largest number of stations nationwide. If they give IPMAN stations products, you will see that the queues will disappear immediately.”
Also, a former chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN) now MEMAN, and the chief executive officer, Mobil Oil, now 11 Plc, Tunji Oyebanji, accused the NNPCL of starving oil marketers of products.
According to him, the NNPCL is allegedly using the logistics challenge as an excuse, saying the company does not have enough fuel in its store.
He said: “(There is) no petrol because NNPCL is not giving us fuel. According to them, they don’t have smaller vessels to take the fuel from the larger vessels. Others are saying it’s because of bridging claims.
“They are not telling us the truth, because, as I speak, I don’t have fuel in my depot. I am going around begging for fuel,”
“If you tell NNPCL you need, say like 80,000 tons of product now, they will give you 10,000 tons. So, you will sell small, and then everything goes dry again.
“If they claim they have fuel, and no products in our tanks, then, it still translates to a no-fuel situation.
“Again, NNPCL is selling to us at around N600 per litre, and as of today, the landing cost of gasoline at the international market is ₦847 per litre.
“So, if I buy at ₦847/litre and add other costs, the pump price will be about ₦1400 per litre.
“So, if I sell at that price in my station, who will buy it? Even we marketers can’t buy much at that price. So, we continue to manage the situation.
“And if we make too much noise, they will tell us to go and import, too. How will we import with the high exchange rate? If we import on our own, who will buy from us at that high price?
“Those currently selling at low prices know how they go about it because, during scarcity, everybody will be doing whatever they like.”
