Fuel scarcity: NNPCL, Dangote tango over pricing

Oil marketers have not begun loading Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol, despite assurances from the Federal Government that the product will be available this weekend.

Some PMS vessels have arrived in the country at the NNPC’s Apapa and Port Harcourt depots, but loading by independent marketers is yet to begin.

As a result, petrol queues in major cities persisted on Friday despite the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, earlier promising that the product would be massively available before the weekend.

But the National Operations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mustapha Zarma, said on Friday that the loading of products at depots had yet to commence, stressing that the queues could last till Monday.

“Maybe the improvement in supply will start tomorrow or Sunday but as of yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday), there has not been much loading of products. And even if there has been loading today, I don’t think it is much.

“That is why the queues are still visible. We cannot confirm the massive release of products as announced by the minister until maybe Monday,” Zarma stated.

On whether the petrol being expected was the one from the Dangote refinery, Zarma replied, “I am not in a position to answer that. It is NNPC that should answer that.”