Petrol scarcity hits critical point nationwide as imports slump

The lingering petrol scarcity crisis in Nigeria has reached a critical point, with marketers unable to replenish their rapidly depleting stock.

As the shortage persists, amid the admission of $6billion debt to offshore product suppliers by NNPC Ltd, stakeholders are advocating for transformative measures to address the issue. They emphasise the urgent need to bolster domestic refining capacities and implement full deregulation of the petroleum sector.

They expressed worry that Nigerians may be on a long walk to freedom as NNPC Ltd, the sole importer of petrol, is currently cash-strapped and currently unable to sustain importation, leaving the country with a single option of hiking the price to reflect market realities.

Petroleum sector players have also urged the government to exhibit the boldness and resolve necessary to decisively end the subsidy regime, rather than imposing further hardships on the Nigerian populace.

The Publicity Secretary of the Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), Mr. Eche Idoko, told Daily Sun that the current situation is a national disgrace, particularly for a nation endowed with abundant hydrocarbon resources.

He explained that the failure of the government to implement earlier recommendations by the last administration aimed at giving a boost to modular refinery operations in the country was responsible for the current crisis.

The CORAN Publicity Secretary said part of the recommendations was for the government to set aside about $11 billion  special fund for modular refineries to empower them by scaling up their production to include petrol through the procurement of catalytic converters.

According to him, the other part of the recommendation was for the government to make available adequate crude oil for modular refinery operators.

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Idoko disclosed that as at today, the refining capacity of modular refineries is in the region of about 200,000 barrels per day, saying when that is added to the 650,000 barrels of Dangote Refinery, the country would have succeeded in being self sufficient and could still export to earn foreign exchange.

However, he said, those recommendations were never implemented when the new administration came on board and that has led the country to where it is today.

Also speaking, Mr Rabiu Bello, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at Seplat Energy Plc., said that collaborating with local refineries to process the daily allocation of 445,000 barrels of crude oil, based on a tolling arrangement, would help the government secure  petroleum products needed for domestic consumption and allow export of excess products.

In his intervention, the National President of the Petroleum Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Mr. Billy Gilly-Harris, said this is the best time for the NNPC Ltd to bring back its refineries to operation, saying the nation cannot afford to continue with the lingering energy crisis.

He said it has now become obvious more than ever that the government was still subsidizing fuel and cannot continue to say otherwise under what they continue to call under-recovery.

Gilly-Harris said the Port-Harcourt and other refineries should be quickly commercialized in partnership with those that are serious to do business. The PETROAN President urged the government to as a matter of urgency completely deregulate the downstream sector and allow more private sector players to bring in products and sell at the appropriate price.

“Today, there is nowhere in the world where petrol has landed below $1. And looking at that amount in the Nigeria scenario, where our exchange rate keeps fluctuating. If it is landed at $1 in Nigeria including all associated costs, that should give you an idea of what the actual cost should be.

Some of the marketers who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews under anonymity projected that the continued intervention of NNPC Ltd in petrol pricing was no longer sustainable as the importer of last resort has finally come out to say the petrol cost was a strain on its finances.

They said Nigerians should be ready to pay the actual cost of petrol which they pegged at about N1,450 per litre, including all other associated cost.

Meanwhile, loading activities at the Apapa Depot recorded further decline yesterday, as fewer trucks were seen on the queue.

Some of the oil trading companies lamented that fewer cargoes were calling at the nation’s water, an indication that the level of imports have dropped significantly.

Already, petrol has hit N1,500/litre in various parts of Lagos and environs, while the product has skyrocketed to over N2,000 up north.

The frightening development has already taken a toll on transportation and food prices.

Many jurisdictions reported that transportation costs have doubled in the last 48 hours, just as the prices of goods and foods are at stratospheric heights.

Petrol scarcity hits critical point nationwide as imports slump

SUN