Residents of Lagos State may soon face a scarcity of fuel or petrol, as marketers are claimed to be closing down filling stations in order to punish motorists and other users of the product.
Many gas stations were reported to be closed yesterday as vehicles checked in to purchase the product.
According to Vanguard, the stations were gradually closed after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) reduced the volume of its imports to allow major and independent marketers to participate in importation following market deregulation.
However, it was learned that the situation became widespread due to marketers’ incapacity to import, owing primarily to challenges in obtaining foreign exchange and local market volatility
“The reduction in NNPC Limited‘s import, aimed at enabling the marketers to embark on importation and the inability of the marketers to import, has created a vacuum that needs to be addressed.
“The situation could have been very serious if many people were still buying the product. But the shortage is currently mild because many automobile owners are not driving frequently or have completely abandoned driving because of the high cost of petrol currently going for between N568 per litre and N590,” said a marketer, who spoke to the publication on condition of anonymity.
A visit to the Ijegun and Satellite depots, however, revealed that fuel lifting was still taking place, despite the fact that an operator verified that stockpiles had been cut.
Meanwhile, Chinedu Okoronkwo, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), is reported to have informed journalists, “We are still loading.”
However, it was unclear whether all of the supplies removed at the depots were transferred to the filling stations because regulators from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) were not there to enforce compliance.
Despite the hurdles, Patrick Ilo, Chief Executive Officer of Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited, said deregulation was still a beneficial strategy aimed at expanding the downstream sector.
He said: “President Bola Tinubu was conscious about deregulation. There are problems, but problems are meant to be solved; we will surmount the problems, and over time, they will be over. I can guarantee that there will be no fuel scarcity in Nigeria, with deregulation.”
On his part, however, the founder of Petrocam Group, Shiraz Gany, said: “Deregulation has been good for the country because, at least, there are no inefficiencies.
”You can pay for premium motor spirit, PMS, at market price. Government can now spend money on critical infrastructure to make the country more efficient for Nigerians.”
