The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fuel scarcity

  • Fuel price hits N120 in Edo

    The persistent fuel scarcity experienced in Edo State has made prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to go up for as much as N120 per litre at filling stations.

    Long queues were noticed at several petrol stations visited with some selling above N100.

    Fuel hawkers selling along the road sold at between N180 and N200.

    Many motorists complained of being extorted by filling station operators by collecting stipends before dispensing fuel for them.

    There was no fuel in many NNPC-mega stations when the Nation visited.

     

  • Fuel scarcity: Marketers to commence distribution nationwide

    Fuel scarcity: Marketers to commence distribution nationwide

    Oil marketers in Lagos State on Tuesday said the distribution of imported petrol to filing stations has commenced nationwide.

    The marketers in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos disclosed that vessels laden with imported petroleum products had berth at the high sea.

    One of the major marketers told NAN anonymously that the delay by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in approving the first quarter fuel allocation to marketers, was responsible for scarcity.

    He added that ships laden with petrol had started to berth since the early hours of Tuesday on the high sea.

    The marketer said they would immediately begin the discharge the product into system 2B for channelling to all NNPC depots.

    He gave Nigerians the assurance that the observed queues at filling stations would disappear by Thursday “when all stations would have received the product before the close of work on Wednesday.

    “The queues in some filling stations in some states will soon disappear as the Federal Government has approved the importation of petroleum products.

    “Petroleum vessels have started to berth at the high sea to discharge the product into the pipeline to depots.

    “We are assuring Nigerians that the ongoing scarcity and queues will soon disappear,’’ he said.

    The marketer advised motorists to remain calm and avoid panic-buying.

    “Since the importation approval has been signed, Nigerians should expect prompt and effective distribution of petroleum products in all filling stations across the country,’’ the marketers added.

    An independent marketer, who exonerated marketers of any blame, commended the Federal Government for its intervention in the clearing processes.

    He said that the clearing process had become cumbersome and caused the experienced delay of ships in the high sea.

    “I totally disagree with the insinuations that marketers are the ones hoarding the product at the filling stations.

    “The real issue is in the high sea because to what extent can a marketer hoard the product in the filling station?

    “In the high sea, we have 42 days sufficiency, so, how can a marketer hoard?

    “The situation we have today has to do with logistics. That is the operations at the jetties, including the shore tanks.

    “I am talking about the little problem we had one week ago which was the contraction in supply,’’ he said.

    However, the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday injected additional three million litres of petrol into Lagos to ease scarcity.

    The Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr Omar Ibrahim, said that extra 33 million litres of petrol would be supplied to end the artificially induced scarcity.

    “While we intensify direct monitoring of fuel stations across Lagos and its environs, we are providing extra volume of the product to eliminate the noticeable queues arising from the induced scarcity,’’ Ibrahim said.

    NNPC has appealed to marketers and members of the public to refrain from hoarding and panic-buying.

  • Fuel scarcity: filling stations in Lagos sell at N100 per litre

    Some oil marketers in Lagos are now selling petrol at N100 per litre, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    A correspondent of NAN, who monitored the situation, observed that many filling stations have had no supplies for more than a week.

    Some of the marketers, who spoke to NAN on anonymity, denied claims by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that marketers were hoarding the product.

    “The delay in the release of the first quarter import allocation was responsible for the scarcity,” a marketer said.

    “We cannot hoard what we don’t have, government should avoid fire brigade approach to importation of petroleum product since we do not refine petrol in Nigeria,’’ he said

    Another marketer also attributed the increase in the ex-depot price from N91.50 kobo to N95 per litre to the hike in petrol price in most filling stations.

    He said that other ancillary costs had added to the cost of fuel between N100 to N105 per litre.

    “ For instance, the union fees, which usually is 30 kobo, now hovers around 50 kobo, so also the transport cost,’’ said a marketer.

    Investigation carried out by NAN revealed that many depots in Lagos were still expecting the product from the NNPC.

    The marketers, however, claimed that they were sourcing the product through third parties and could not afford to sell at N97 per litre.

    Dr Omar Ibrahim, the Acting Group General Manager (Public Affairs) in NNPC, still insisted that fuel scarcity in Lagos was artificial.

    Ibrahim said the corporation would introduce new measures to halt the “artificially-induced fuel scarcity.’’

    “NNPC, in conjunction with the Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, will commence detailed monitoring of fuel stations in Lagos and environs,’’ he said.

    Ibrahim said that the monitoring would also extend to other states of the federation to check the incidence of hoarding

  • Fuel scarcity: IPMAN blames delay in ship clearance on security operatives

    Fuel scarcity: IPMAN blames delay in ship clearance on security operatives

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has blamed the lingering fuel scarcity across the country on security operatives’ delay of the cargo ship awaiting clearance on the high sea.

    The association’s President, Abdulkadir Aminu, who stated this in Abuja yesterday, said there would be continued disruption in loading at various depot until the relevant organisations hasten up the clearance process.

    Speaking in an interview, the IPMAN boss said: “In a situation where you have disruption for 24 hours, its effect would last for about five to seven days, not to talk of when you have disruption for three to five days.”

    Debunking the allegation that marketers are responsible for the scarcity, the IPMAN President said: “I totally disagree with the insinuations that marketers are the ones hoarding the products.

    “The real issue is on the high sea. To what extent can a marketer hoard the product at the filling station? On the high sea, we have 42 days sufficiency, so how can a marketer hoard?

    “The situation we have today has to do with logistics. That is the operations at the jetties, including the shore tanks, because of the little problem we had one week ago, which was the contraction in supply. The contraction was as a result of the ship-to-ship transfer on the high sea.

    “And I want to tell you that up to this moment, to the best of my knowledge, there are still delays in the clearance of these ships from the high sea. And these delays lead to other issues that cause disruption in loading at various depots across the country.”

    According to him, the NNPC has made frantic efforts to ensure that all the tank farms are open for products discharge, but the biggest challenge is the ship-to-ship transfer on the high sea and they have to be cleared before that exercise would be conducted.

    Aminu, however, admitted that “the Nigeria Navy and other security personnel on the high sea have their own mode of operations as security officers. They only can explain better how they clear these vessels. But to the best of my understanding, their delays in clearing the ships on the high sea is the cause of the problem that the nation is facing today.”

    He explained that most of the nation’s inland depots do not receive products through the pipelines.

    The IPMAN boss however observed that both IMPAN and DAPMAN should double their efforts in products bridging.

    “I know that my members are willing to bridge, but they still have some teething problems in getting their trucks even into the depots because of the entry problems they face with the military personnel and other security operatives in Lagos.

    He lamented that before any trucks gains entrance into the tank farm it is always a herculean task.

    According to the normal duration for clearance used to be 12 hours while it takes more than three days.

  • Fuel scarcity hits Auchi

    Most filling stations in Auchi, Etsako-West Local Government Area of Edo State, have closed as a result of fuel scarcity in the area.

    The Manager of Total, Sola Olajide, said the scarcity followed fuel shortage at the Warri loading depot. Olajide said the station last received Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) supply on February 14.

    He attributed the scarcity to non-availability of fuel at the depot.

    “The Warri depot supplies us fuel and they only supplied PMS on February 14. And we have been calling them, but all they tell us is that there is no fuel at the depot,” Olajide said.

    The Manager of FO, Majek Saliu, blamed the fuel scarcity on non-availability of fuel at the major depot that supplies petroleum products to Auchi.

    Saliu said they get their supplies from the AP deport in Benin, adding that stations had been in touch with them to supply them PMS.

    “As you can see, we have no fuel. It is not that we don’t want to sell; if they supply us fuel, we will sell.”

    Saliu debunked rumours that filling stations deliberately refused to sell fuel because of an impending increase in the price of fuel.

    “It is not a deliberate attempt by stations in Auchi to close due to any planned increase in the prices of petroleum products.

    “We sold our last fuel at the rate of N97 per litre. There is no way we can increase when the depot where we get the fuel from has not increased its price. If we get supplies now, we will sell at the same rate,” he added.

  • Blame NNPC for fuel scarcity, says IPMAN

    Blame NNPC for fuel scarcity, says IPMAN

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of being behind the current fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.

    The Kwara state chairman of IPMAN, Ilorin Depot, Alhaji Rasheed Olopade told reporters yesterday in Ilorin that they have not been loading fuel from the depot for some time now.”

    The Kwara State Government on Tuesday ordered IPMAN to end the scarcity.

    But Alhaji Olopade said: “The NNPC should answer that. Even the loading we have been having is skeletal. When about 300 marketers want to buy and they only sell to two marketers, will that go round? We have been managing since last three weeks. We have been loading two independent marketers.

    “Before because marketers had fuel, it did not show but now that the fuel has been exhausted, the new one we are loading cannot sustain the customers.”

  • Fuel scarcity worsens in Ibadan

    Petrol scarcity is biting harder in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Queues have become longer at the few petrol stations selling the product.

    The filling stations sell petrol at N100 and above per litre, which is above the approved N97 per litre. Yet, motorists wait long hours to get the product.

    Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Oyo State branch, Basorun Joseph Oyewole said a fault at Ijegun Depot shut down the fuel supply chain to the Ibadan Depot of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which supplies Oyo and Osun states.

    He said the fault led to skeletal supply of petroleum products for one month, adding that there was no supply on Monday and Tuesday.

    Oyewole said the few stations selling fuel were buying from private depots in Lagos.

    He said: “The fault at Ijegun has been rectified and they have started receiving fuel from Mosinmi Depot, but another problem occurred at Mosinmi, which is disturbing the supply of products to Ibadan Depot. They said they have started fixing it. So, normal supply should resume soon.”

  • NNPC allays fear over fuel scarcity at Yuletide

    NNPC allays fear over fuel scarcity at Yuletide

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has assured that petroleum products will be available during Christmas, urging that motorists should not engage in panic buying.

    Speaking yesterday after he inaugurated state-of-the-art Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) facility in Abuja, NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Andrew Yakubu, cautioned Nigerians over panic buying of petrol, saying the corporation has a stock of petroleum products that is sufficient for over 35 days.

    He said NNPC is “very prepared for the Yuletide. We have more than enough stock. As we speak, we have over 35 days stock. Between now and Christmas, even if we do not bring in products at all, we have enough to go round the country. Let me cease this opportunity to call on all Nigerians not to panic. We are properly positioned in terms of stock at our various distribution outlets to support petroleum distribution”.

    He said in line with the organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility, NNPC will share the benefits of the HSE facility with its publics.

    “This facility will not be limited to NNPC alone. But we do not pray for emergency, but when it comes, of course, we are available to support the Fire Service to combat the emergency situation,” he said.

    The Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu refused to comment on the privatisation of refineries  in 2014.

    When asked to comment on the proposed privatisation of the refineries as announced in London by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison- Madueke, the NNPC boss quietly walked out on the reporters.

  • Fuel scarcity not likely, says NNPC

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiary in-charge of products supply, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), have debunked reports of the reported imminent fuel scarcity.

    There were reports that NNPC was not supplying premium motor spirit (PMS) through the notorious System 2B pipeline often attacked by vandals at Arepo community in Ogun State. The pipeline supplies products to depots in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and Ondo states, and there were concerns that if products are not pumped through the line fuel scarcity would hit the five states. This is because it supplies fuel to Ejigbo depot in Lagos State, Mosimi depot in Ogun State, Ibadan in Oyo State, Ilorin in Kwara State and Ore depot in Ondo State.

    Fear of likely fuel scarcity was necessitated by the report that marketers paid for over 15,000 trucks of fuel in depots serviced by System 2B line but for over one week after, none the marketers was supplied fuel.

    The NNPC and PPMC debunked the reports, saying that the corporation has enough fuel for Nigerians. The Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Tumini Green, advised those in the states served by System 2B line not to embark on panic buying as there is more than enough fuel to go round.

    She said: “We urge members of the public to discountenance the report of imminent fuel scarcity in the South-West carried in a section of the media as there is no iota of truth in them.

    “It is not true that there has not been loading from the depots in the South-West since last week, adding that it was only the depot at Atlas Cove that was temporarily shut down for the maintenance of its power generator, which is a standard industry practice.

    “The Atlas Cove depot is not a loading but a storage depot, underscoring the fact that loading could not have been affected.What happened was that one of the major generators at the Atlas Cove was undergoing a routine maintenance, which resulted in shutdown of pumping activities. The suspension of pumping from Atlas Cove for maintenance did not in any way affect distribution activities as the depots serviced by the Atlas Cove Jetty through the System 2B Pipeline have enough products to keep all the states in the Southwest Zone wet throughout the period of the maintenance.

    “As at Friday, the maintenance, which started on Wednesday, has been concluded and pumping of products has resumed.”

    She explained that the depots served by the System 2B Pipeline have an average of 5.4 days fuel sufficiency with the breakdown as follows: Mosimi – 6.4 days, Ibadan – 5.9 days, Ilorin –4.2 days, and Ore – 5.1 days.

  • Why fuel scarcity persists – Minister

    Why fuel scarcity persists – Minister

    The Federal Government has again explained the reason for the stringent measures put in place in the management of subsidy regime.

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, said the stringent measures are meant to check the activities of fraudsters in the sector and to recover fraudulent oil subsidy claims.

    Besides, she also attributed the current fuel scarcity in the country to some slight issues with the oil union, but assured that the issue is being tackled and normalcy will soon return to the filling stations.

    Madueke, who was responding to questions from reporters on the current fuel supply situation in the country, however said government was not folding its arm as it has been doing a lot to arrest the situation include pushing oil out from the nation’s strategic reserve.

    While also appealing for the support and cooperation of Nigerians, the minister said the current suffering is some of the sacrifices the people have to make to enthrone transparency and accountability in the sector.

    She said the whole issue will soon pass away as government is doing everything possible to arrest the situation.

    The country in the last few months had been grappling with shortage of fuel supply and this has led to long queues in most filling stations across the major cities of the country.

    The Minister of Finance Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had disclosed that the Presidential committee on subsidy claims headed by the Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede has submitted its report and uncovered NN232.2 billion claims that cannot be substantiated.

    It was also in the attempt to clean the sector that Federal Government announced recently that it was withholding N29 billion claims by some oil marketers as subsidy payment pending the outcome of the investigation by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission on the issue.