Investigations by Vanguard showed that the depot owners get the product directly from the government, while independent marketers buy it from them at the cost of N165 per litre, instead of N148.
Efforts to get the Federal Government to react to the ongoing disagreement between the two groups last night failed, as officials contacted refused to speak on the matter.
National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, who confirmed the development in an interview with Vanguard yesterday, said: “It has become increasingly difficult for our members to buy petrol from the private depots. In fact, we are now paying N165 per litre.
“It is not possible for us to buy and sell at the same government-regulated price. We are being forced to sell to the public at N180 per litre after adding our transport cost.
Depots owners react
However, a major depot owner, who pleaded anonymity, said the private depots would prefer to give priority to their members at this time of instability.
He advised independent marketers to turn to the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company, NPSC, for supplies.
Specifically, he said: “The independent marketers have an option. They should turn to the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company, NPSC if they have problems buying from private depot owners.
“For now, the private depots will likely favour their own company-branded retail outlets, which they prefer to keep wet with petrol in order to sustain operations.”
Situation report
Further investigations yesterday showed that many depots and filling stations have exhausted their stocks, due mainly to limited supply and pressure from motorists and other buyers over the weekend.
The Federal Government had last week, urged consumers not to panic as there was adequate petrol to meet domestic demand.
But Vanguard discovered that there was much anxiety on the part of motorists and others, who took over almost all available spaces at filling stations, leading to stock depletion.
Consequently, while filling stations with the bad petrol and those that had exhausted their stocks were shut, a few major marketers were seen selling the product in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo and Ogun state, yesterday.
Some motorists and others, who queued for several hours before they were attended to, alleged that the pumps might have been adjusted to exploit them.
The emergence of black markets was also noticed at some locations, especially on the outskirts, where the product went for between N200 and N300 per litre, depending on the location.
Officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, established by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, were not visible to monitor and enforce sanctions against culprits.
Moves on to eliminate bad petrol
Already, Vanguard learned that the various committees created by the NMDPRA have started working towards the elimination of bad petrol.
A source, who confirmed the development, said the committee members would visit the vessels, that brought in the bad fuel, depots and filling stations to take stock as well as determine the cost of the evacuation to be incurred by marketers, which would eventually be settled by the government.
FG reassures Nigerians
Nevertheless, the government has assured consumers that ongoing petrol shortages would end in the coming days, as new vessels berth and trucking of product intensifies.
It also said all contaminated petrol has been recalled and are being replaced.
In an exclusive chat with Vanguard, a government spokesman stated that the situation is a national emergency and called for the cooperation of all stakeholders and understanding of all Nigerians.
He said: “While it is difficult to give a definite date (when the situation will normalise) but within the next few days because more vessels with clean fuel are coming through but the distribution logistics take some time, so, very soon it will return to normal.
“The more PMS that come in, the shorter the time frame but the distribution logistics also has its time frame. You can see that more filling stations are dispensing to motorists and customers that are in queues, but, the more filling stations that are receiving new supplies the less the concentration of the queues.
“I am expecting that within the next week we will witness the receding of these queues”, he added.
He explained that the situation was unforeseen and took a quick response from the government to ensure that it did not escalate.
He said: “Four vessels (with the off-spec petrol) came in but only one discharged and even that one not all entered the supply chain. If all the four had entered the supply chain it would have been worst”.
He pointed out that the government has nothing to hide and has been transparent in its management of the issue, saying “this is no time for partisanship, it is time for patriotism”.
Last week, the Federal Government had reassured Nigerians of its capacity to restore sanity in the supply and distribution of quality Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol across the country within a short period.
The government made the pledge at the end of a meeting with some oil marketers to resolve the issues generated by the recent supply and discharge of methanol blended petrol in some Nigerian depots.
It emphasized that defaulting suppliers had been put on notice for remedial actions and that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, NMDRA, would take the necessary actions in line with subsisting regulations.
Providing a graphic chronicle of the unfortunate incident, the government said that on January 20, 2022, it received a report from its quality inspector on the presence of emulsion particles in PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp, Belgium.
It explained that its investigation revealed the presence of methanol in four PMS cargoes imported from some Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) suppliers.
“It is important to note that the usual quality inspection protocol employed in both the load port in Belgium and our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for percentage methanol content and therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors,’’ an official of the government stated.
However, in order to prevent the distribution of the petrol, the official said the government promptly ordered the quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes and the holding back of all the affected products in transit (both truck & marine).
FCCPC promises sanction
However, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has vowed to sanction importers and distributors.
In a statement yesterday, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive, FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, stated: “The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has become aware that a certain but limited quantity of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, that does not comply with established, applicable, and prevailing standards has been distributed and sold in certain parts of the country.
“The commission in the process of its initial investigative assessment understands that consumers who purchased fuel that constitutes part of this consignment have experienced technical difficulties and or damage to their vehicles or other relevant equipment/machinery.
“In furtherance of its investigation and pursuant to relevant laws, the commission is currently engaging multiple regulators and entities relevant and involved in the PMS distribution value chain.
“The purpose of ongoing engagements include addressing hardship or difficulties consumers may experience with respect to the withdrawal of the implicated products from the market, securing assurance and promoting consumer confidence that supply constraints are addressed and will not persist and ensuring that the regulator’s recall effort under applicable laws and regulations including Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, FCCPA, sufficiently excludes continuing distribution of the implicated product.
“It also includes encouraging and promoting additional and robust mechanisms to prevent recurrence and developing a meaningful and transparent mechanism to address demonstrated injury to affected consumers.
“The commission’s engagement with the key and relevant regulators/entities involved has been constructive and productive. The Commission commends this responsiveness and prioritisation of ensuring continuity of supply, containment of implicated product and sensitivity to consumer dissatisfaction and inconvenience.”
Vanguard