Petrol Scarcity to Last Two Weeks, NNPCL Offloads 240 Million Litres to Address Crisis

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, stated on Sunday that the current petrol scarcity, which is spreading to more states across the country, will take at least two weeks to normalize.In response to the escalating nationwide petrol shortage, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) began offloading 240 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, on Monday.

As the NNPCL initiated the offloading process, filling stations across various locations sold the product at an average price of N800 per litre. According to information gathered, the 240 million litres of petrol were imported into the country via five vessels, which were then offloaded into five depots on Monday.

Ayo Cardoso, the South-West Regional Coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, confirmed these developments in an interview with The PUNCH on Monday.

Meanwhile, the NNPCL has reiterated that it maintains sufficient stock of the product. However, Chinedu Ukadike, the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, contradicted this claim, stating that the product is currently unavailable in the country.

Ukadike attributed the acute shortage in supply to importation bottlenecks and the sluggish pace of marketers’ license renewal by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

He revealed that out of 15,000 marketers, only 1,050 have had their licenses renewed by the NMDPRA.

“The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations,” Ukadike said.

He further explained that disruptions in the international supply chain, particularly due to refinery maintenance in Europe, have made sourcing petroleum products challenging.

Despite the challenges, NNPC’s Group CEO has assured that there will be improvements in the supply chain as their vessels are arriving. Normalcy is expected to return once the 30-day supply sufficiency is restored, a process that may take two to three months.

In a related development, Adetunji Oyebanji, Chief Executive Officer of 11 Plc, stated in a telephone interview with Nairametrics on Monday that the current petrol pricing in Nigeria does not reflect market realities. He emphasized that this discrepancy is a major cause of the current fuel scarcity.

Oyebanji criticized NNPC for selling petrol at N600 per litre in Nigeria, a price he deemed unsustainable and not reflective of the true market cost. He suggested that NNPC’s pricing strategy may be leading to supply shortages at filling stations nationwide.

Furthermore, oil marketers have attributed the fresh scarcity of petrol in some parts of the country to supply challenges from NNPC Limited, the major oil supplier. Billy Gillis-Harry, National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), acknowledged NNPC’s efforts to address the issue but noted that the supply challenge persists.