Fuel Scarcity: Nigerians Are Being Deceived - Marketers Reveal

Posted by George on Fri 22nd Apr, 2016 - tori.ng

Oil marketers have revealed the current scarcity of fuel in Nigeria may not be going away soon as expected by the general public.

There are uncertainties about the availability of petrol, as most depots are without stock, while marketers have reportedly not been importing due to scarcity of foreign exchange.

According to a major marketer, who chose to remain anonymous, “we cannot be talking about stock level because there is no stock at all. No depot has up to 5,000 metric tonnes of petrol, which is about 200 trucks. Once there is supply, it is distributed immediately.”

This was corroborated by sources at Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, who told Vanguard that the nation cannot boast of any stock level now, as products are sent to states the moment they are imported.

However, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, stated that 1,120 truckloads, comprising 36.957 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS (petrol) had been distributed across the country.

Wednesday’s distribution

NNPC also stated that 20 import vessels laden with a total volume of 830.1 million litres had arrived in the month of April for NNPC.

Giving a breakdown of trucks dispatched to selected states on Wednesday, NNPC said 405 truckloads of petrol were dispatched to Lagos; 130 trucks, Abuja; Kano, 13; Port Harcourt, 54 and Kaduna, 21.

Anambra and Ondo received 13 trucks each, while Sokoto, Borno, Katsina, Plateau and Kogi received nine, six, 15, seven and 17 trucks, respectively.

Others are Ogun, 53; Kebbi, 34; Bauchi, 18; Delta, 34; Bayelsa, nine and Benue, 11.
NNPC had also stated that it had 17 days sufficiency, up from three to four days in March at the peak of petrol shortage.

We don't have products - Marketer

Meanwhile, when a reporter visited depots at Apapa, there were little or no activities, as they complained of depleted stock.

A depot marketer, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, said: “Nigerians are being conned to believe scarcity will disappear. How is this possible when we have less to sell to marketers?

“How is it that NNPC distributes about 36.957 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, and yet we are still left with nothing at the depots? The mystery is far from our grasp.

“However, what we were asked to do is to help government with our trucks to ease the dispatching of petroleum product across the country.

“For now, we are practically out of business because there is no Forex to import and until there is Forex, we are practically rendered handicap.

“We are supposed to provide the balance of the 40 percent component, while NNPC handles 60 percent, but that will only end up becoming a dream due to Forex challenges.”