‘No Petrol Supply by NNPCL’ – Marketers Explain Return of Fuel Queues in Nigeria
The President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, has attributed the recent scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in Abuja, Nasarawa, and other states to the non-supply by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
This revelation was made in an exclusive interview with newsmen on Saturday, addressing the resurgence of fuel queues in Nigeria.
It was gathered fuel queues have reappeared in the nation’s capital, Abuja, Nasarawa, and other states, with motorists scrambling for petrol.
Significant queues were observed at the NNPCL retail filling station along the Kubwa Expressway and Ranoil in Gwarimpa. Most filling stations along the Kubwa Expressway, Lugbe, and Airport Road axis were without fuel on Saturday morning.
Gillis-Harry expressed his frustration, noting that he visited numerous filling stations but could not find any fuel. He emphasized that fuel marketers cannot set prices independently as they do not import the product; instead, they sell according to the price at which they purchase it.
“Yesterday (Friday), I went to over fifteen filling stations in Abuja, including NNPCL retail outlets, but there is no product. If they say they increase prices, it is their own thing. You sell according to how much you buy the product. We don’t have the product; that is the reason for the scarcity. We cannot fix a price because we don’t import the product; it is NNPCL that is the sole importer,” he explained.
Addressing speculation that the planned commencement of fuel supply by the Dangote refinery in mid-July 2024 could be causing the scarcity, Gillis-Harry clarified that the refinery has not yet produced any petrol.
“Dangote refinery has not brought in any fuel, even Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), we are struggling to have it. What we are saying is that Dangote is facing the herculean challenge of meeting the deadline. We are proud of having a refinery of 650,000 barrels per day in Nigeria. Meanwhile, NNPCL cannot say because the Dangote refinery fuel supply is coming on board, they will stop its import. Nigerians depend on PMS daily. Dangote has not produced a liter of PMS.”
He stressed the need for NNPCL to resolve the supply issues promptly. “The issue is that there is a supply challenge with NNPCL. NNPCL has just a few filling stations.
PETROAN and other stakeholders have several across the country. It is critical to ensure that all major stakeholders are aware of the things happening in the sector to avoid situations like this. We should ask NNPCL to up their game to halt the supply challenge,” he told DAILY POST.
Attempts to reach the spokesperson of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls or texts. The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, requested to be contacted by noon on Saturday for comments.
This development follows a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, which indicated that the average price of petrol per liter rose to N769.62 in May 2024. The fuel subsidy removal announced in June of the previous year had already led pump prices to increase from N238.11 to around N700 per liter.
