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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) says fuel stations should operate longer hours to supply and distribute petrol to address the fuel queues across the country. The NNPC said the turnaround period of petrol trucking is also elongated to ease the situation being witnessed.
The NNPC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) embarked on a joint monitoring of the supply and distribution of fuel stations in the FCT and across the country to ensure that queues disappear. NNPC had said that fuel queues in the FCT and parts of the country were caused by disruptions in the ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of fuel between Mother Vessels and Daughter Vessels resulting from recent thunderstorms.
Adverse weather conditions, including rainstorms and lightning, had also affected berthing at jetties, truck load-outs, and product transportation to filling stations, disrupting station supply logistics. During the inspection, Dapo Segun Executive Vice President, Downstream of NNPC stated that there was a gap in the ship-to-shore discharge of petrol, which he described as a volatile liquid. He added that during thunderstorms, it could not be discharged; rather, it had to suspend ship-to-shore movement. This also affected the loading of trucks at the depot too because of safety reasons.
The Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, Ogbugo Ukoha, said the fuel queues in Abuja and parts of Lagos arose from the inclement weather which affected operations offshore and routes trucks ply. When asked about its effort to stop hoarding and the nefarious activities of black-marketers, Ukoha said its officials were on the ground going through the stations and depots to make sure that there was no hoarding.
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Due to the lag in supply, there may be elements who would try to take advantage of the situation but Nigerians must go about their businesses and purchase the volume they need without panic, Ukoha said. There was no intention or any anticipated plan to increase pump price, adding that the two organisations would continue to collaborate to ensure energy security.
