- Supply situation to improve this week – Marketers
- Motorists pay N800 and above for litre of PMS
The fuel shortage across Nigeria remained critical in many states at the weekend, although reports said the situation was easing off.
Particularly, independent marketers expect fuel supply crisis to abate this week. Their optimism is hinged on the ongoing efforts to free seven fuel-laden vessels trapped in Warri.
The vessels are carrying a total of 150 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), an official of the Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) told The Nation.
The DAPPMAN source said: “Seven vessels are trapped in Warri. It happened that four were on their way to Nigeria when they ran into other two that had broken down and the one that was trying to rescue them, making seven vessels.
“They are all in Warri and once their total stock of 150 million litres hits the market, the queues will disappear.”
The claim could not be confirmed from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), whose chief spokesman, Olufemi Soneye, asked that an SMS be sent to him when he was contacted on the phone, but his response didn’t come at press time.
The fuel crisis appeared to have eased marginally in the Federal Capital Territory at the weekend, while the situation in parts of Lagos and Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was also relatively better.
Filling stations of NNPC, NIPCO and ENYO in Ibadan operated in full and sold at the old rates of between N580 and N630 per litre. Consequently, queues reduced drastically towards the evening.
Motorists, who fuelled their vehicles at the weekend said they were able to buy fuel within 90 minutes of queuing.
A motorist, Mr Wale Olola, said: “I went out at about 10am in search of fuel. I had prepared my mind to spend about four to five hours wherever I got (fuel) but was surprised to see NNPC, ENYO, NIPCO and others selling.
“Because of the availability in more stations, the queues were not as long as they were earlier in the week. I joined the queue and was able to buy fuel within an hour. It was so soothing.”
Yet, some filling stations were closed for lack of product supply, and commercial transporters were still charging exorbitant fares, with the claim that they bought fuel at high cost.
There was still no respite in Ondo State, with a litre of fuel going for N950 in Akure, the state capital. Many of the petrol stations in Akure did not even have products to dispense.
Chairman of IPMAN, Ore depot, Shiba Amoo, said fuel would soon be available in Akure. We are working on how we can have priority for Akure. NNPCL has called for immediate loading of fuel,” he said.
There were long queues at NNPC filling stations in Enugu where the product was sold for N600 per litre. But the price differed at other filling stations, going for N880 per litre in some of them.
In places like Nsukka and Obollo Afor, it was between N880 and N1,000 per litre. However, only NNPC outlets and those of Total Energies sold N600 and N667 per litre, respectively.
The price also ranged between N730 and N800 per litre in Anambra, Imo and Abia states, although there is no scarcity in Anambra.
In Imo State, the high price has caused significant disruption and hardship with transporters increasing fares by 100%.
Despite the availability of the product, motorists are struggling to cope with the increased cost, which has added to their financial burdens.
Many commuters have expressed their discontent, saying that the price hike has made it difficult for them to afford transportation to work, school, and other daily activities.
Many of the Major and Independent Petroleum Marketers operating various petrol stations in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, had no queues, but sold for ₦730-₦750, with pump price rising to ₦750-₦800 per litre at the weekend.
Fuel is readily available in Rivers State although a litre can only be got for nothing less than N750. A resident of the city said that he bought a litre for N712 on Thursday and N750 on Friday.
“Most filling stations have fuel but I noticed that they jerked up the price,” he said. However, some of the stations did not sell to motorists, even when their gates were left wide open.
