As the illegal market for Premium Motor Spirit, or PMS, exploded on Sunday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited promised to cut off the lines by Wednesday.
In addition, NNPC said that it did not owe foreign oil merchants $6.8 billion as had been reported in certain places. This announcement was cited by industry observers as a key factor in Nigeria’s pervasive PMS shortage.
However, oil marketers stated on Sunday that the loading of goods at depots has not improved, even though the national oil company had promised that the lines for gasoline will thin out this week.
Black gasoline merchants took advantage of the situation by dispensing PMS for as much as N1,200 to N1,500/litre, depending on the location of purchase.
They marketed the product in jerrycans. This occurred as the commodity’s sole importer, NNPC, attributed the difficulty in evacuating PMS vessels to the shortage of gasoline. Nigeria solely imports gasoline through NNPC.
Because they were unable to obtain the US dollars needed to import gasoline, other dealers ceased importing the product.
Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, informed one of our correspondents that the oil company was making great efforts to address the problems with fuel delivery and emphasized that the lines should thin out by the middle of the week. “It’s just a problem with the ship’s evacuation from Apapa (ports in Lagos). However, we are addressing it. It ought to be fixed. Soneye declared on Sunday that he was “very sure” the fuel shortage will be resolved by Wednesday.
“The NNPC Ltd regrets the tightness in fuel supply witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory), which is as a result of distribution challenges,” he said in a press statement he later released on the subject.
“The company further urges motorists to shun panic buying as it is working round the clock with relevant stakeholders to restore normalcy.”