President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, has revealed that the non-supply of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is the reason for the product scarcity in Abuja, Nasarawa, and other states.
Gillis-Harry disclosed this in an interview on Saturday,
reacting to Nigeria's re-emergence of fuel queues.
It was gathered that fuel queues have resurfaced in the
nation’s capital and neighboring Nasarawa, as well as other states, as
motorists scramble for the product.
For instance, the NNPCL retail filling station along Kubwa
Expressway had massive queues on Friday, similar to Ranoil in Gwarimpa.
Meanwhile, the majority of filling stations along the Kubwa Expressway, Lugbe,
and Airport Road axis were without fuel on Saturday morning.
Speaking on the development, Gillis-Harry lamented that he
visited numerous filling stations but could not find fuel.
According to him, fuel marketers cannot fix prices since
they are not importing the product; rather, they sell according to the amount
they buy. He stressed that the reason for the fuel queues and scarcity is
because PETROAN members and marketers do not have the product.
“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.
When asked if the planned commencement of fuel supply by
Dangote refinery in mid-July 2024 could be blamed for the scarcity, he said,
“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.
“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 said.
The spokesperson of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, didn’t take calls
nor reply to the text sent across to him.
The development comes as the National Bureau of Statistics,
in its latest Petrol Price Watch, reported that the average price of the
product per liter rose to N769.62 in May 2024.
Recall that in June of last year, the fuel subsidy removal
was announced, which led pump prices to increase to around N700 per liter from
N238.11.
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