The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, issued a grim forecast, indicating that the ongoing fuel scarcity plaguing various states in Nigeria is unlikely to abate for another two weeks.
Despite assurances from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NPCL, about sufficient stock, IPMAN maintains that the situation remains dire.
Chinedu Ukadike, the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, highlighted the challenges facing the availability of petrol in the country.
He attributed the scarcity to importation bottlenecks, refinery maintenance in Europe, and delays in marketers’ license renewals by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
He said: “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations.
“On the part of NNPCL, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, they have attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.
“Once there is a breach in the international supply chain, it will have an impact on domestic supply because we depend on imports. I also have it on good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turnaround maintenance, so sourcing petroleum products has become a bit difficult.
“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30-day supply sufficiency is disrupted, it takes two to three months to restore it.
“We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply and with another week, normalcy should return”.