As the petrol crisis continues to linger in the country, an Energy Expert, Dr Joseph Obele has disagreed with claims by the NNPCL that they have enough stock to end fuel scarcity in the country.
Dr Joseph Obele in a chat with our correspondent said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) is being economical with the truth about the petrol scarcity in Nigeria.
He noted that queues would not end anytime soon until NNPCL improves the supply of petrol in the country.
He said that the over-dependence of energy sources from the international market is responsible for the scarcity Nigerians are facing.
“Last weekend, several filling stations were still shut down at Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt because they were all out of stock. Yet NNPC management kept telling Nigerians that they have sufficient stock in circulation. They kept talking about distribution hurdles and so on. NNPC should be sincere to Nigerians. The excessive cost of importation from the international market is becoming unbearable to them; hence they are unable to import sufficient quantity of PMS for distribution.
“Marketers and retail outlets are running dry, they want to replenish, but there is nowhere to buy. There is no stock anywhere for marketers to buy. Only one depot is selling in Rivers State out of the 19. And that one is rationing the little quantity available to them. As of yesterday, marketers who managed to see PMS via a third-party source bought it at the rate of #950 per litre. It is unfortunate and terrible.” he said.
The Energy expert further accused the NNPCL of selling the petrol to private depot owners rather than marketers.
He said most filling stations are now out of stock because they cannot afford the exorbitant prices of the product at the private depot.
“The situation now is that NNPC is now selling to third parties called Private depot owners and they're selling above #900 to marketers. The fuel scarcity has disrupted commercial and social activities in the country”.
“Despite NNPC's apologies and assurances, nothing positive has happened as most of the filling stations in the country still don’t have PMS. The few filling stations that have petrol in the city have their premises crowded with vehicles, tricycles, motorcycles and Jerry cans”.
“What we are experiencing is an issue of supply gap as NNPC as the sole supplier of PMS is unable to meet the quantity demanded by marketers. NNPC is not giving us the usual quantity demanded, they are supplying less. The queues will not disappear unless product supply to marketers improves” he said.
