Fuel scarcity persists, oil marketers discard official ex-depot price, adopt N200/litre

The shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol appears to have defied all official solutions as motorists continued to contend with the effects of supply shortfall.

This was even as oil marketers, including major oil marketers have discarded the official and approved ex- depot price of N148 per litre as set by the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The development has further compounded motorists’ woes as filling stations have now adopted unofficial price of N200 per litre as against N165 per litre approved by NMDPRA.

Some of the marketers who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews alleged that major oil marketers have also joined private depot owners to exploits Nigerians.

They lamented that major marketers who get regular product allocation from NNPC and are also allowed credit lifeline have joined forces to inflict pains of Nigerians.

Daily Sun findings across some depots in Apapa revealed that the major oil marketers are selling at an ex-depot price of N183 while private depots pegged theirs at N188 per litre.

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Majority of the filling stations in Ikeja, Ikorodu Road, Surulere, Ikoyi and Apapa had long vehicular queues waiting to purchase fuel.

Some of the motorists who spoke to Daily Sun expressed frustration at the frequent fuel scarcity being experienced across the country almost on a quarterly basis and calling on government to address the ugly situation.

The  Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN)  Western Zone, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen,  had last week condemned the hike in the ex-depot price of petrol from N148.17 per litre to N178 per litre.

According to him, none of the NNPC depots have product while private depots took advantage of the situation  to hike the price.

“The only option for our members is to opt for private depots to keep our business moving. We are totally against the increase because it will affect our profit margins and also hurt masses.

“Some private depots with product, deliberately refused to sell for reasons best known to them,” he said.

The IPMAN chairman said that the marketers should not be blamed for the increase in pump price, stressing that “selling at N170 per litre is not realistic”.

“Therefore, our members have no other option than to sell between N195 and N200 per litre within Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, while we will sell between N200 and N210 in Kwara, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states.

“Most of the tank farm owners have justified this increase because of different charges, among which is vessel charges paid in Dollars. We are equally calling on the NNPC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to investigate the arbitrary increase in fuel price by the private depot owners.”