Nigerians are still grappling to buy Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, as depots continue to face fuel shortages.
Findings showed that many filling stations in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, and other states are still shut down due to their inability to access PMS, according to The Punch.
The scarcity is rapidly affecting major and independent marketers, as additional filling stations that dispensed petrol in recent weeks are now under lock and key.
At the few stations where the product is available, marketers dispense a litre at prices between N700 and N1,000.
Some Nigerians on social media have urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to explain why the fuel scarcity has not been curtailed in the last three weeks.
Since July 27, when the NNPC blamed the fuel constraint on a hiccup in the discharge operations of a few vessels, the situation has not improved significantly, and the Federal Government has deemed it unnecessary to address the public.
From Berger to Ogudu, Iyana-Woro to Lagos Island, Ikeja to Abule Egba, Apapa to Surulere, and others, only a few filling stations opened for business on Tuesday
It was reported that the stations that have fuel in Abuja had queues of cars as long as one kilometre.
Operators stated that the depots in Apapa did not get enough supply from the NNPC.
According to them, demand for PMS is currently significantly greater than what the country’s lone importer can supply.
Despite importing petroleum, the present supply is insufficient to address the country’s fuel issue, according to operators.
“There is no fuel at the depots. Whatever is being imported now is not enough to fight the current scarcity. And the price is high because marketers now get petrol at N730/litre. There is nothing we operators can do when there is no supply.
“The supply is not increasing because the importer is incurring too much debt. The more they import, the more the debt on the NNPC, so they continue to ration. Everywhere is dry, and even major marketers are affected. NNPC retail outlets are affected. The situation is worse in Abuja, especially at Airport Road,” one of the operators who pleaded anonymity due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter.
Another marketer stated that the few depots that had fuel did not sell to outsiders; instead, they dispatched what little they had to their stations.
