Fuel Marketers Give Update On Fuel Scarcity

Fuel marketers have told Nigerians to express a little more patience regarding the fuel scarcity currently rocking the country.

The Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, who gave the charge, said he hopes the stakeholders have learnt the necessary lessons and how to curb future occurrences.

He explained further that though the fuel scarcity situation, which has lasted about three weeks, is improving across the country, it would still take a few more days for things to normalize.

Ukadike said independent marketers who had not received any product for weeks were now beginning to load, especially at the coastal depots in Calabar, Port Harcourt and Warri. He disclosed that marketers in System 2A and System B were expected to load the product in the coming days.

The IPMAN spokesperson further commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for its proactive approach to addressing the fuel scarcity situation.

According to him, “Anytime there is scarcity in Lagos, there will be scarcity everywhere because is the landing port for all imported petroleum products and NNPC will use their daughter vessels to distribute products to the coastal areas.

“Yes, product has come and it is being distributed but like I said earlier in interview with Vanguard, since our pipelines are not working, product will be distributed through daughter vessels to coastal depots where marketers can pick from. Trucks are made to travel to between 500km to 1,000km to deliver products.

“It is a gradual process and Nigerians should be patience. I think they are working assiduously to improve the situation especially now that in Port Harcourt we have received over five million litres of petrol which will water the area.

“I am aware that Warri and Calabar are also loading. So, in few days time everything will normalize. I believe that they are giving more priority to Abuja and the surrounding areas to clear the queues. If you see Abuja, you will see improvement. There is fuel, it is just that it is not sufficient to return supply to normal period.

“I want to give thumb up to the management of NNPCL for standing up and facing some these logistic challenges. I hope that lessons have been learnt.”