Why Petrol Scarcity Persists – Marketers

Petrol marketers, on Monday, revealed the causes of the lingering scarcity of the product across the country.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ejigbo Satellite Depot, Akin Akinrinade, in his take on the development noted that most of the private depots in Lagos are not selling.

He further stated that those selling were doing so at outrageous prices.

Akinrinade said only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) could tell Nigerians when the current scarcity would end.

He said some stations were selling the product for as high as N750 and N800 per litre, stressing that those selling at N720 per litre must be dispensing the old stock.

He told Daily Trust, “Our depot, the satellite depot, which is the biggest in the South-West, has been abandoned and that is the only depot that can address supply issues in the South-West; but you go there now, it is like a forest.”

IPMAN’s National Secretary, John Kekeocha, who spoke on Channels Television, on Monday, however said many stations had started taking supply after the NNPCL had addressed the logistics challenge.

He said, “It is only NNPC Ltd that supplies the product. Based on the logistics, all other marketers take supply from them. The explanation they gave us was that there is a small problem with logistics which has been sorted.”

The Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Clement Isong, said, “The challenge really is availability of vessels to bring the products from where they are to the depots. So, there is a shortage of daughter vessels. That is what is causing the logistics challenges.

“Now, the NNPCL is hiring vessels and we are receiving more than we normally receive to kill the queue. So, I am very hopeful that if we continue to work like we have been working over this week, the queue will soon disappear.”

Isong dismissed insinuation of an impending price hike, saying: “We are MOMAN, our investment is very big and we don’t play funny games, we don’t take stupid risks.”

He charged Nigerians to shun panic buying, saying, “Many people now buy more than they usually bought before thereby resorting in the long queues and putting pressure on the marketers.”