By Bassey Udo
Fuel consumers in Abuja and other parts of the country should have no fear of shortage in supply of petroleum products at least in the next 30 days, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has adopted strategies to restore normalcy in products supply.
Apart ensuring adequate stock of petroleum products in all its depots across the country, the company said it has also put in place an arrangement to guarantee effective supply and distribution of the products across the country.
The Group Executive Director, Downstream, NNPC, Adeyemi Adetunji, who gave an update on the efforts to end the lingering fuel supply crisis in the country said about 2 billion litres of petrol sufficient to last for 30 days have been put in place in its depots
Sets up Directs 24-hour Loadout at Strategic Depots
“The NNPC assured Nigerians of fuel sufficiency of over 2billion litres availability. The company has enough stock in its depots to last for at least one month,” he said.
The NNPC attributed the long queues at filling stations across the country in recent times to the ongoing road infrastructure development project around Apapa, which is being complicated by the access road and challenges in parts of Lagos depots.
Adetunji said Abuja was equally impacted by the challenges experienced in Lagos, although he promised products massive loading,including 24 hours operations in selected depots and extended hours of operations at strategic stations to ensure products supply sufficiency nationwide.
He said vessels have been programmed and massive load out from depots to various states are closely monitored.
NNPC Retail and other key per marketers have intensified dedicated loading into Abuja to restore normalcy in fuel supply as soon as possible.
He reassured consumers that NNPC was prepared to significantly increase products loading from depots to different parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the downstream, midstream Petroleum Industry regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in a statement on Wednesday assured there were no plans to hike the price of petrol.
For some time, petroleum products marketers have complained that the current retail price approved by the government was no longer adequate to guarantee adequate returns.
The marketers who blamed the perennial scarcity of petrol in the morning country have always demanded an upward review of the price from N167.50 per litre to about N230 per litre.
But, the NMDPRA Ina statement to allay fears on speculations concerning the fuel price and availability of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol.
“The Authority wishes to inform the general public that the Federal Government has no intention of increasing the price of PMS during this period.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.
“Consequently, products Marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products, and hoarding,” it said.
The Authority said in keeping with its responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of all petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.
