- Jerk up price to N170/litre
Fuel marketers have raised the alarm of an acute shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol at major depots, warning that the shortfall could lead to scarcity in days ahead.
A staff in one of the major depot at Apapa, who spoke to Daily Sun in confidence, said his firm has been battling shortage of petrol with no hope in sight for the next supply of products to them.
‘‘I can authoritatively tell you that there is a sharp decline in supply. My MD has been running after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to supply a paltry 1,500 metric tonnes which is just 200 trucks but that request was turned down.
We were told that the bulk of the supply they have was for NNPC retail outlets. As it is, there is no hope as to when we will get our next supply’’. He said
The development according to him has created a gap in the petroleum products supply chain, adding that the role of NNPC as sole importer of petrol has been called to question.
He said the only sustainable solution was for the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry to be deregulated so that more players can be allowed to import products.
Already, while the NNPC and major retail marketers outlets are still selling at N162 per litre, some independent marketers have already jerked up petrol prices to N170 per litre in a bid to maximise profit.
Confirming the hike, the National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Mike Osatuyi, maintained that members of his Association increased the pump price because they bought the product at N160-N161 from depot owners.
“My members buying from DAPPMAN members are buying at N160-N161, and they will have to add their transportation costs to it. So, at what price do you want them to sell? Even that N170 is still very cheap,” he was quoted to have said.
Osatuyi added that the PPMC had told marketers to register under the new payment method, called ‘PPMC Customer Express’, before they could buy products from it.
“Right now, PPMC has said that the era of ATP (Authority to Pay) has gone. It means that payment has to be made online. So, my members are now in the process of doing that without which we cannot lift products,” he said.
IPMAN members had last Wednesday andThursday disrupted loading of petroleum products at private depots in Apapa as well as Ibadan, Ejigbo and Mosimi depots belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
They picketed the facilities to protest their inability to get products due to a new payment method introduced by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the NNPC.
It was gathered that many private depots in Apapa, Lagos, from where many marketers get petroleum products for distribution to other states are already running dry of petrol due to supply shortage.
