Fuel scarcity: We’re at mercy of tank farms, marketers cry out

Fuel scarcity: We’re at mercy of tank farms, marketers cry out

Oil marketers have cried out to President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in the crisis currently plaguing the fuel supply in Nigeria.

This is coming amid the scarcity of petrol at the filling stations across the country and the demand for downward review of prices by agitated Nigerians.

The downstream operators said they were at the mercy of oil tank farm owners who they accused of selling fuel to them exorbitantly.

The downstream operators called on President Tinubu to direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to be alive to their responsibilities and make every player in the sector to play by the rule.

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Some marketers spoke under the condition of anonymity, alleging that the NNPC and other regulators often connived with the tank farmers in a way inimical to availability of the products and the seamless distribution to retail outlets.

According to them, the NNPC, the sole importer of petroleum products in Nigeria, gives Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol to the private depot owners operating under the aegis of DAPPMAN at ex-depot price of N556.5 per litre.

The tank farm owners are said to sell to marketers at N700 to N740 per litre, leaving them with little or no margin or profit to sell at stations.

Previously, the NNPC used to release petroleum products allocation to tank farm owners for distribution to marketers with a benchmark on price.

Fuel scarcity: We’re at mercy of tank farms, marketers cry out