In an effort to combat the growing statewide petrol shortage, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) started offloading 240 million liters of Premium Motor Spirit, or Petrol, on Monday.
Filling stations sold Petrol at an average price of N800 per liter in various places as the NNPCL started to discharge the product. According to information obtained by one of the correspondents at PUNCH, five vessels brought in 240 million liters of Petrol, which were offloaded on Monday into five depots.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Monday, Ayo Cardoso, the South-West Regional Coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, reaffirmed this.
The PUNCH revealed on Monday that Nigerians in Lagos and other regions of the nation continued to face difficulties getting fuel since numerous filling stations remained closed, despite the NNPC’s assertions that the logistical problems causing the shortage had been resolved.
According to information independently obtained by The PUNCH, the NNPC’s mandate requiring fuel trucks to service the Federal Capital Territory before any other locations could make the situation worse in Lagos and other parts of the South-West. Hundreds of loaded trucks were sent to Abuja on Sunday in response to a NNPC mandate, according to sources in the oil business.
While visiting gas stations across the nation on Monday, correspondents at PUNCH saw that many of them had increased their pump rates, with a litre of gasoline now costing between N650 and more than N1,000.
It was discovered that black marketers took advantage of the fuel stations’ increases to make quick cash by offering to sell a litre of gasoline for more than N1,200, depending on the buyer’s negotiating power and location.
Additionally, it was noted that on Monday, the difficulties brought on by the lack of fuel were worse. As the country got back to work for the new week, the lines at Petrol stations grew longer.
The strain on parents, instructors, and school owners increased when the fuel shortage coincided with the start of public schooling in several states.
The NMDPRA regional coordinator told The PUNCH that the organization was making every effort to prevent Nigerians from being taken advantage of by filling stations.
“We are doing something about the fuel crisis; very soon it will be over. Vessels are discharging as I am talking to you. What we are concentrating on is to push the NNPC, which is the supplier of last resort, to make sure they wet the entire populace.
“So, we have about five vessels already discharging the product, about 240 million litres are being discharged as I am talking to you right now. We are working round the clock.
“But then, once you have a problem, it takes like one or two weeks to (normalise), but people will keep on panicking, which is not supposed to be. All these kinds of things disrupt the normal way of operations. But with 240 million litres coming in from five vessels discharging to five depots already today, things will get back to normal,” Cardoso assured Nigerians.
