For the first time since the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery began supplying petrol in 2024, queues have resurfaced at petrol stations in Abuja, with most outlets shut due to a shortage of products.
Checks across the city and surrounding areas showed several filling stations closed, while the few that opened were besieged by long lines of motorists.
The scarcity followed last week’s three-day industrial action by oil workers under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
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Speaking to Vanguard, the Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Chinedu Ukadike, assured that the queues would clear within two to three days.
Ukadike explained that the supply disruption was caused by the strike.
“It is not just Abuja alone. Lagos was dry two days ago and so was the East. It is a reflective effect of the PENGASSAN strike. Now that loading has commenced, within two to three days this little disruption in distribution will be over and we will resume normal supply. There is no cause for alarm,” he said.
He further disclosed that the Dangote Refinery has now become the sole source of petroleum products in the country, with NNPC Limited, depot owners, and marketers all patronising the $20 billion facility.