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Tag: Fuel queues

  • Fuel: NUPENG, IPMAN say no reason for panic-buying

    QUEUES for fuel remained in parts of the country yesterday despite assurances from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) that there was no reason for panic buying.

    Long queues were noticed in some parts of Lagos like Ojota, Ogba and Ikeja as well as Abeokuta, and Ado Ekiti.

    The Ekiti State government warned owners and operators of filling stations in the state to desist from hoarding of petroleum products or face the consequences.

    Some filling stations did not sell fuel in Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti states.

    Petroleum stations at Iworoko, Ikere Ekiti, old Iyin Road, Bank road, and Ajilosun area of Ado Ekiti failed to open for operation.

    IPMAN, NUPENG say there is no need for panic buying

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), urged Nigerians to stop panicking over fuel scarcity as there is sufficient product.

    IPMAN said there was sufficient fuel in the country and about six vessels of imported petrol ordered by the NNPC were currently discharging the product.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, the National President of IPMAN, as saying that all the NNPC depots across the states had commenced loading of petroleum product by marketers.

    He said: “Marketers are currently loading petrol in Makurdi, Kano, Enugu, Aba, Yola, Suleja, Kaduna, Ejigbo, Mosinmi, Ibadan and other depots across the country.

    “The shortfall in distribution was due to slow pace of product importation and hitches at the jetty which had been addressed.

    “But the Federal Government is on top of the situation, there is enough of petrol to go round. I have also instructed all our members to ensure adequate distribution of the product across the country.

    “I have also directed them to ensure product is sold at official price of N145 per litre. If there is any issues on distribution and pricing differentials, members should call the secretariat for further action.

    “The Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) template has not changed, so, no marketer should influence hike or sell above official price,” he said.

    He stressed further that IPMAN had so far reached an agreement with other marketers for better synergy in making the product available in the country.

    “IPMAN which controls 80 per cent outlets, has more advantage in distributing and dispensing in both urban and hinterlands in the country.

    Mr. Tayo Aboyeji, Chairman, Lagos Zone of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), in a separate interview said: “there is enough fuel, Nigerians should avoid panic buying.”

    He said that “there is fuel and it is available, as I am talking to you now, some of the depots have received the products and are already loading.

    “What is happening was panic buying, people think there might be price increase from government or removal of subsidy.

    But nothing of such, government has assured us that no increase in petrol pricing for now, so, Nigerians and marketers should avoid being panic over fuel scarcity.

    “I urge Nigerians and motorists to avoid storing of petrol at home because it’s dangerous for us, fuel is available, I have visited some depots and I can confirmed to you that loading is going on.

    Read also: Disregard rumour of fuel scarcity, NNPC tells Nigerians

    “As at Friday, we had instructed our tanker drivers to engage in 24-hours loading activities and lift products from depots to filling stations across the country.

    “We will ensure 24-hours service delivery of product distribution in the country, we also urge government to checkmate activities of the task force in Lagos and along Ibadan expressway.

    “Our members are being extorted and harassed by members of the task force. Some drivers who were scheduled to load in Lagos were denied asses to Lagos, which also affects effective distribution of products,” he said.

    Alhaji Debo Ahmed, the Chairman, Western Zone of IPMAN, however, attributed the ongoing queues at some stations was due to shortfall in NNPC distribution network to depots.

    Ahmed said that all depots within the South-West zone were loading at a low pace due to insufficient products.

    “We have lots of pending tickets from marketers awaiting loading at depots but were still stranded.

    Ekiti warns dealers of petroleum products against hoarding.

    Continue in page 2

  • Fuel queues back at filling stations in Lagos

    Many petrol retail outlets in Lagos and Abuja yesterday closed shops while the few that sold had long queues as motorists waited to fill their vehicles’ tanks and buy some in kegs to keep as reserves in expectation that fuel scarcity could worsen.

    However, oil marketers assured there was no scarcity and advised fuel consumers not to engage in panic-buying as what led to the gap in fuel supply and distribution, which resulted in the queues at fuel stations, was a minor operational problem.

    The problem, according to the marketers, has been addressed and depots are loading 24 hours, and whatever supply gap there is will be closed between today and tomorrow.

    The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Clement Isong, told The Nation that all their members’ depots had fuel.

    He said there was a slight technical hiccup which the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the marketers had already resolved, adding that there would be normal supply, and any envisaged scarcity would be over this weekend.

    Read also: Disregard rumour of fuel scarcity, NNPC tells Nigerians

    Companies that make up MOMAN include Total Nigeria Plc, Conoil Plc, Oando Plc, 11Plc (formerly Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc), MRS Oil Nigeria Plc and Forte Oil Plc.

    Isong said: “All the tanks have product. There is no supply shortage. What caused the queue is a minor operational hiccup. Whenever there is such technical issue and it takes up to 12 hours to resolve, it upsets supply and distribution chains, and that is what happened in this scenario because it created backlogs of loadings that could have been done earlier.

    “However, the problem has been resolved. One of the vessels berthed at the port loaded into our tanks yesterday (Thursday), another one will discharge today (Friday) and the third vessel will discharge tomorrow (today).

    “I advise the public not to embark on panic-buying as there is enough fuel. The gap in supply created by the technical problem will be closed within the weekend as our members are loading 24 hours through the weekend.

    However, an official of one of the depots owned by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), who did not want his identity disclosed, said it was slight scarcity.

    According to him, during the election period, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not make enough fuel imports. As a result of that shortage in import, there was not enough fuel to go round and the NNPC resorted to rationing what it had in stock.

    “If 10 depots are supposed to get supply from NNPC and only five depots were able to get at the end of the day, certainly, there must be a gap, and that is the reason you see queues at the filling stations.

    “For instance, there are marketers who have paid for fuel in our depot in the past two to three weeks, and they are yet to be loaded because of inadequate fuel. But I believe that supply shortfall will be addressed soon.

    “It is not something so serious. I assume it is a costly oversight on the part of the NNPC.”

  • National Assembly seeks end of fuel queues

    National Assembly seeks end of fuel queues

    A Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Petroleum Resources yesterday mandated the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to end the lingering fuel scarcity and queues  at filling stations within seven days.

    The committee also asked the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, especially those at the borders, to halt the alleged diversion of fuel tankers from Nigeria to neighbouring countries.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa, gave the ultimatum after a  meeting of members of the committee.

    The committee meeting was preceded by another meeting with the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, and other top officials of the oil corporation.

    The lawmakers were said to have demanded explanations from the NNPC on why the fuel shortage had continued to linger with queues returning to major towns and cities across Nigeria.

     

     

  • National Assembly to NNPC: end fuel queues in 7 days,

    National Assembly to NNPC: end fuel queues in 7 days,

    A JOINT Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Petroleum Resources yesterday directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to end the lingering fuel scarcity within seven days.

    The committee also asked the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, especially those at the borders, to halt the alleged diversion of fuel to neighbouring countries.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Kabiru Marafa, gave the ultimatum after a closed door meeting.

    The meeting was preceded by another meeting with the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, and other officials of NNPC.

    The lawmakers demanded explanations from the NNPC on the lingering shortage and the return of the queues.

    Senator Marafa was said to have described the situation as embarrassing and acknowledged that though NNPC tried  to end the shortage during the yuletide, the return of the queues in Lagos and Abuja showed that the problem was not completely over.

    Marafa was said to have insisted: “This situation has lingered for too long. The public are suffering and when they are suffering, we cannot sit and say all is well.

    “At a point, you told us the problem has been solved; we also saw that the queues disappeared for some time, but unfortunately, they have returned.

    “You even went round stations, monitoring the situation, but you have been unable to resolve the issue.  In any situation, when your best is not good enough, it is very bad and most unfortunate.”

    He told the NNPC to brief the committee on the reasons for the resurging long queues; what it had been doing to resolve the challenge and how long it would take for the queues to disappear completely.

     

     

     

  • End fuel queues in seven days, NASS orders NNPC

    End fuel queues in seven days, NASS orders NNPC

    NNPC scarcity and queues at filling stations within seven days.

    The committee also asked the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies especially those at the borders to halt the alleged diversion of fuel tankers from Nigeria to neighbouring countries.

    Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa gave the ultimatum after a closed door meeting of members of the committee.

    The committee meeting was preceded by another meeting with the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Engr. Maikanti Baru and other top officials of the oil corporation.

    The lawmakers were said to have demanded explanations from the NNPC on why the fuel shortage had continued to linger with queues returning to major towns and cities across Nigeria.

    Marafa was said to have described the situation as embarrassing and acknowledged that though, NNPC made attempts to end the fuel shortage during the Christmas, the return of the queues in Lagos and Abuja was an indication that the problem was not completely over.

    Marafa was said to have insisted that “This situation has lingered for too long. Members of the public are suffering and when they are suffering, we cannot sit down, fold out hands and say all is well.

    “At a point, you told us the problem has been solved; we also saw that the fuel queues disappeared for some time, but unfortunately the queues have returned. You were even gojng from station to station monitoring the situation but you have not been able to resolve the issue once and for all. In any situation, when your best is not good enough, it is very bad and most unfortunate.”

    He told the NNPC to address the committee on the reasons for the resurging long queues at various filling stations; what the NNPC had been doing to resolve the challenge and how long it would take before the queues could disappear completely

    In a slide presentation, Baru attributed the situation to the on going repair works on Apapa Wharf road and the blockage of the road by some accidents vehicles, saying these created challenges along the route and disrupted the free movement of fuel trucks from the fuel depots to other parts of Lagos. The NNPC boss also blamed the current fuel crisis on the breakdown of the Jebba/Mokwa road in Kwara State as well as the crash-landing of a vessel conveying PMS along the Escravis/Warri/Oghara route. According to Baru, these two incidents also contributed to slowing down the pace of distribution of available petroleum products to different parts of the country.

    in addition, Baru disclosed that the NNPC was still bugged down by the challenges of product diversion and smuggling of same across the borders .According to him, the price of petrol in neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and Ghana were at least double the price of the product in Nigeria. He explained that this price differential has made the smuggling of the product very attractive.

    Baru however, said the NNPC will continue to tackle the fuel shortage by injecting an average of 60million litres of petrol into the market on a daily basis.

    In spite of these explanations, many members of the committee expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, observing that the NNPC was still working around the symptoms of the fuel crisis and building all its solutions on fuel importation rather than making the nation’s refineries to work to ensure product availability all the year round. The committee therefore resolved that the NNPC must change the narrative on the crisis and end the queues I seven days without excuses.

  • Motorists groan as fuel queues return to Lagos

    Motorists groan as fuel queues return to Lagos

    FUEL queues returned to Lagos yesterday.

    Many motorists, who have been buying fuel with ease for some days, were shocked by the sudden reemergence of the queues.

    Few filling stations were selling petrol; many others were shut.

    The black market boomed as operators sold in jerry cans at exorbitant prices to desperate motorists.

    A 10-litre can went for as high as N5,000 in places like Ikeja, Maryland, Yaba and Mushin.

    On Saturday night, none of the about 10 filling stations on the Itire-Mushin road to Yaba was selling when our correspondents visited the areas.

    So also were the about six outlets from Mushin to Ojuelegba.

    At Jibowu under bridge to Yaba Bus Stop,  only Conoil  was selling.

    There were frequent altercations between those with jerry cans and motorists.

    Some hoodlums took the advantage of the situation to make brisk business.

    At Fatgbems near Cele bus stop on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, the attendants announced around 7.15 a.m., that they would start selling by 8am. Many on the queue expressed their displeasure over the announcement.

    A motorist, Audu Saibu, queried the rationale behind the announcement, asking “are you running a school system? Why wait till 8am when people are already on queue. Many of us have functions to attend.”

    Two hoodlums in collaboration with a man said to be   a police officer (though not in uniform) were collecting money from motorists before  allowing them in.

    After over an hour on the queue, Saibu bought fuel at  the pump price of N145 per litre, but he claimed to have given the hoodlums and the ‘officer’ N1,400.

    None of the filling stations at Ikeja was selling.  At the NNPC filling station on Ogunnusi Road,  motorists lined up in anticipation that it might sell at night.

    In Ikotun, Ikorodu, Epe and Lekki,  some independent filling stations sold at between N180 and N200 per litre.

    A depot owner, whose facility is  in Apapa, told The Nation in confidence that there was no supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is currently the sole importer of petrol.

    According to him, there is no depot in Apapa that has its own petrol. Any depot that has petrol is doing throughput for NNPC and can only load trucks authorised by NNPC officials.

    This, the source added, has put pressure on demand. Many of the trucks are ready to pay far above the depot price of N133.28 per litre. He said the landing cost per litre of petrol, as at the weekend,  was above N171 per litre.

    No marketer, he said,  wanted to risk importation except  he would sell at N180 and above per litre.  Most of the depots in the hinterland, outside Lagos and the Southwest, he said,  were not operational, adding that the few that are operating do not have products.

    Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) spokesman Alhaji Abiodun Lawal told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the company was loading and supplying to marketers, but the volume had marginally dropped.

    “I can confirm we are currently loading but I don’t have the statistics; however I must say that we don’t have enough supply at the moment. I think that explains the resurgence of queues at filling stations,” he said.

    Depot and Petroleum Products Marketing Association, (DAPPMA) Executive Secretary Mr Olufemi Adewole  said there was shortage of petrol supply across the country.

    Adewole said what was playing out  was the NNPC’s preference of deploying more supply to major marketers.

    “The truth is that there is short supply at the moment, if NNPC can raise supply we will be able to get to inland areas and focus on major cities, but I can tell you there is no much supply from NNPC,’’ he explained.

  • Photos: Fuel queues continues in Lagos

    Photos: Fuel queues continues in Lagos

  • Return of fuel queues

    Return of fuel queues

    •This is a national embarrassment that must never recur

    IF Nigerian motorists had thought that they were done with the perennial cycle of dry pumps and associated fuel queues after the removal of subsidy on petrol on May 11, 2016, the dramatic resurgence of fuel queues across most states of the federation last week has shown how little has changed. From Lagos to Abuja, Makurdi in Benue State to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the story was fairly the same: of hordes of motorists seeking desperately to buy fuel.

    And just as in previous episodes where all manners of alibis were bandied, the latest one has not been any different: motorists ostensibly in anticipation of another round of price hike were first blamed for hoarding; then followed the usual recriminations and finger-pointing between the club of marketers – the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPMAN) and the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) – soon to be joined by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Products Marketing Company (NPMC), Umar Ajiya, who in fact accused DAPMAN of exploiting its rival marketer – IPMAN.

    “What is happening”, he said, “is that we have made these products available to IPMAN members. The NNPC depots are not quite enough to cover all the IPMAN members. And that is why they resort to buying from other DAPMAN members, some of whom have tried to exploit them by increasing the prices.”

    A clearer picture of the situation would later emerge when the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, finally admitted that the problem was caused by shortfall in supply of petroleum products. He also let it be known that the NNPC solely, imports fuel.

    That the country has again found itself in the sorry pass some 19 months after the dramatic removal of petrol subsidy is not just embarrassing but a measure of how warped the calculations of the NNPC and the Federal Government are. To start with, if the NNPC’s rather narrow understanding of its rationale as a service-oriented organisation is astonishing, the latest round of failure to anticipate demand and consequently plan ahead, particularly as Yuletide approaches, shows how far it is yet to shed its old ways despite pretensions to the contrary.

    The same could be said of its current lamentation about being the sole importer of white products. Only the corporation can pretend not to know that a strategy hinged on importation with attendant foreign currency fluctuation risks would not at some point come to such grief as we have seen in recent times in the fuel import business. Clearly, the failure of its current liberalisation strategy is the manifest fruit of that folly.

    Unlike the NNPC, we do not see the maintenance of steady supply of fuel to be rocket science. What it requires is diligent planning – an art that the NNPC has proven to be unable to perfect all these years. Nigerians are by now tired of rationalisations; of endless promises that fall short of permanently stabilising the fuel supply situation. Indeed, they have become weary of putting up with such perennial misjudgments by the NNPC given their sheer toll on the people and the economy. They are tired of plans without results; of unfruitful Turn Around Maintenance (TAMs); of catchy concepts like modular refineries, and refinery co-location all of which have come to mean nothing in practical terms to the efforts to resolve the fuel conundrum.

    What the challenge calls for goes beyond the so-called “emergency measures…to ensure that the products are available during the Yuletide and post-January”; it is about the corporation’s responsibility of ensuring free and uninterrupted flow of white products at all times. Never again should we have a situation that would make fuel queues return. It is a national embarrassment.

  • Fuel queues resurface

    Fuel queues resurface

    Fuel queues have resurfaced in some cities, including Lagos, Ilorin, Benin City and Sokoto.

    In Sokoto, marketers have increased the pump price to N150 per litre.

    Marketers said they had gone on strike in Lagos, which accounted for the queues.

    But the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it had not increased the pump price.

    The marketers said the strike resulted from the failure of the NNPC to grant their demand  for reduction in the price of the product.

    The members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) claim that they buy petrol   at N142 per litre from depots and the Petroleum Products Association of Nigeria(DAPMAN), a price, which has left them with little or no gains, after adding transportation and other incremental costs.

    They said they were planning a major strike from Monday, unless the government averts it.

    IPMAN South-West Chairman Debo Ahmed said the queue was as a result of the exorbitant price of the products .

    He said marketers might go on strike, should the government fail to order DAPMAN to reduce the price at which they supply fuel to them.

    Ahmed said: ‘’  The queue in some parts of the country, is a pointer to the fact that major one is coming, in the event the Federal Government is unable to avert it.  We( independent  marketers) really  want the NNPC to resolve the problem between the marketers and DAPMAN once and for all.

    We cannot continue to buy fuel at N142 per litre from DAPMAN while NNPC, which remains the only importer of fuel in Nigeria, is selling to DAPMAN at N133. 28 per litre. The margin is too high.’’

    He added: “If marketers in Lagos are buying fuel at N142 per litre. How much do you think marketers in Ilorin, Kwara State will buy the product, when they add transportation cost to it?  The farther the distance, the outlets of the marketers, the higher the cost of transportation.

    “In areas such as Benin, Akure, Kaduna, the price of transporting fuel to their desired locations (outlets) would be higher.’’

    He said marketers were battling paucity of funds, and as such, they are finding it difficult to buy fuel at N142 per litre.

    He said marketers were unable to access credit from banks for business.

    But the NNPC reiterated that there was no plan to increase fuel price.

    In a statement, Ndu Ughamadu, the corporation’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, said there was no plan to increase prices at the ex-depot level and pump price ahead of the Yuletide.

    Ughamadu said the ex-depot petrol price of N133.38 per litre and pump price of N143/N145 per litre had not changed.

    He assured the public that the corporation had enough  to ensure seamless supply and distribution of products across the country, especially during the Yuletide.

    He urged motorists and other users of petroleum products to disregard trending rumours of an impending fuel price hike.

    “The NNPC has the full commitment of all downstream stakeholders, including petroleum marketers and industry unions, to cooperate in achieving zero fuel scarcity this season and beyond.

    “We enjoin motorists not to engage in panic buying or indulge in the dangerous practice of stocking petroleum products in jerry cans at home.

    “The Petroleum Products Marketing Company and NNPC Retail Limited are fully geared up to ensure that motorists enjoy uninterrupted access to petrol throughout the nation,’’ Ughamadu said.

     

  • Fuel queues to end this week, says Kachikwu

    Fuel queues to end this week, says Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday said fuel queue will be over in Abuja and Lagos this week.

    He projected that queues in Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Port Harcourt and other states will dissipate subsequently.

    The minister also hinted of a price adjustment next month.

    He told officials of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in Abuja that the ministry will take the right decisions however hard they might be. He added that the government will prevent the return of the subsidy regime.

    He said: “Today, we have the fuel queues and it is completely a nightmare for me. The reality is that I am hurt, I am very emotional about my job. And there isn’t still much. We just need to take the right policies as hard as they are and as difficult as they are to ensure we do not return to the policy of subsidy.

    “And hopefully, tomorrow  /Thursday, the fuel queues in Abuja must be over and thereafter Kano, Katsina , Sokoto, Port Harcourt and other states.”

    He added that there is price modulation that made government to save a lot of money in the first quarter which it will now use to fund the present excess.

    “In May, there will be a slight adjustment to match the current trend.”

    He explained that his major concern is not only the ongoing fuel queues but how to avoid a re-occurrence.

    According to him, the Federal Government needs to build strategic fuel reserves that it has not done in the last 20 years.

    Kachikwu said to avoid the reoccurrence, government needs to build strategic reserves for it to be able to respond to fuel shortage for six to nine days.

    He said: “We need to find the allocation of the resources to be able to complement the majors to be able to bring in products. But that is not a futuristic long term solution and there is no better way than to steer to the path of privatization. And it is not necessarily synonymous to increase in price. “