Sundiata Post – The re-occurring scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol is one that is becoming too many, thus becoming a national embarrassment.
At the moment, long queues of vehicles in search of the commodity dot almost every part of the country with no hope in sight when the shortages will come at an end.
The worrisome development has been further compounded by the protests across the country, which have led to the shutdown of filling stations over fears of possible attacks on them.
Some of the motorists who expressed their frustration at the epileptic supply of petrol in recent months, saying that the development has made planning difficult.
More worrisome is the activities of the independent petroleum marketers who are now capitalising on the shortage of the petroleum products to hike petrol prices.
Some of the independent marketers have hiked prices to as much as N950 per litre while purchase into jerrycans attracts extra charge of N500.
As at last week, Muheez filling station on Olaniyi Street in Abule Egba, sold fuel at N800 per litre, the same for other filling stations operated by the independent marketers within the same axis.
However, the situation was different at the NNPC retail outlet on Olaniyi street, Abule Egba, where a litre of petrol was sold for N568, but the station had to contend with long queues of motorists.
At the Mobil filling station on College road in Ogba, the queues stretched over several metres while motorists battled to get the product.
At Alapere inward Oworoshoki, most of the filling stations which included; Heyden, NNPC, TotalEnergies and MRS had long queues of motorists waiting in line to buy fuel.
Responding to the shortages, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mr Olufemi Soneye, explained that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is as a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.
He said that the company is working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations soon.
In his reaction, the National President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Mr Billy Gillis-Harry, said that the fuel scarcity is one that is becoming too many.
He lamented that as retailers they can also sell products made to available to them by the NNPCL, saying that in a situation where there is a glitch in supply, there is nothing they can do.
The PETROAN president said the scarcity was having a negative effect on the operations of its members who don’t have products to dispense, but would end up paying salaries at the end of the month.
Gillis-Harry said that the situation is further compounded as a result of lack of competition which creates room for NNPCL as the sole importer which, he said, is not too good for the market.
He explained that even if NMDPRA issues licenses for petroleum product imports, the foreign exchange to carry out the transaction is simply not there.
‘‘We have the Naira to buy the product and our bankers are equally willing to work with us, but the forex component to back it up is simply not there,’’ he said.
Some of the marketers at the Apapa depot who spoke to Sunday Sun in separate interviews said that there has been a drastic drop in the level of imports by the NNPCL, leading to the fuel shortages being witnessed across the country.
The marketers lamented that supply has been epileptic, saying that berthing spaces for vessels have been empty for days.
‘‘Berthing spaces for vessels have been empty which is an usual occurrence when we have crisis such as this. But because there are no products coming in, those spaces remain idle. Unfortunately, this is the time marketers that can have access to products are milking members of the public through hike in petrol prices,” they said.
An energy expert, Mr Henry Adigun, said a rise in the landing cost of petrol as at July 31, 2024 was N1,100 per liter, pointing out that this lays credence to the fact that NNPCL was still paying subsidy on petrol.
According to data released by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MEMAN) during a webinar with energy correspondents, the landing cost of petrol was N1,117/litre as of July 16, 2024.
The association had also revealed that the landing cost of diesel was N1,157/litre, while that of aviation fuel was N1,127/litre, at the time.
The N1,117 landing cost of petrol is far above the pump price of the product in Nigeria. Currently, the pump price of petrol is between N660/litre and N800/litre, depending on the area of purchase.
The Executive Secretary, MEMAN, Clement Isong, said that his group had earlier published the landing cost of PMS, adding that this was the realistic cost of the product.
“You have seen the price we published which is the realistic cost, and you know the cost at the pumps today, and Dangote refinery is a business entity that will not want to make losses. So, that is all I will say,” he stated.
He noted that a rise in the landing cost of petrol will definitely lead to an increase in the retail pump price of petrol.
‘‘I wonder why NNPC is not being open to Nigerians. They still deny there is no subsidy on petrol, but numbers don’t lie, if the landing cost of petrol is N1,100 and it is being sold at N568 per liter at NNPC retail outlets, so who is paying the difference of N532 per liter,” he queried.
Adigun also said that Nigerians should not expect a low priced product from Dangote refinery given that the quality of products from the facility is of high premium and also the crude pricing supply to the refinery is not lower than what it is sold in the international market.
According to him, the NNPCL is not going to sell crude below cost of production and since crude is an international product Nigeria must be guided by international best practices.
He also warned about ongoing subsidy on petrol, which has made the market uncompetitive, which he also said would continue to create disruptive supply arrangements.
Adigun, therefore, called for a substantial review of fiscal policies that will entrench competition and strong regulatory environment.
Commenting on the development, the Deputy National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Zarma Mustapha, said that the queues were also due to the planned protest.
“The planned protest is one of the reasons for the queues we are seeing now. Most transporters and marketers are a bit sceptical about dispatching their trucks for loading at the various coastal depots for delivery to the hinterlands.
“So, people are waiting to see how things are going to be, and there are not many trucks that have gone to lift the product. Everybody is watching; nobody knows how the protest is going to turn out,” he stated.
The IPMAN official urged those gearing up to protest to be responsible during the exercise to avoid losses to private businesses, government, and other individuals.
“My advice is that though it is the legitimate right of anyone to protest, it should be done with a sense of responsibility because we have a lot of unemployed idle youths. It shouldn’t be done in such a way that hoodlums will hijack the protest and cause disharmony within the country,’’ he advised.
