Scarcity: Petrol stations will operate longer hours to enhance supply, says NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says petrol fuel stations are to operate for longer hours to enhance supply and distribution.

Dapo Segun, NNPC’s executive vice-president, downstream, said the turnaround period of petrol trucking is also elongated to ease the current issue.

Segun spoke during a joint inspection of stations by the NNPC and the officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Monday in Abuja.

On July 8, the NNPC said petrol queues in the federal capital territory (FCT) resulted from the disruption of ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of the commodity between mother and daughter vessels.

The national oil firm the situation was due to recent thunderstorms and the consequential flooding of trucking routes which constrained the movement of petrol to Abuja from coastal corridors.

Speaking during the inspection, Segun said there was a gap in ship-to-shore discharge of petrol, describing the product as a volatile liquid.

He said during thunderstorms, products could not be discharged, hence ship-to-shore movement had to be suspended.

“This also affected the loading of trucks at the depot too because of safety reasons, so we have to suspend all that during thunderstorms and that’s why you see this tightness,” he said.

“Though we have a challenge over the bad portions of motorways which deteriorated due to rains and flood across the country, we will ensure that we are loading out all through the weekend and that we are mobilising trucks.

“We are getting fuel stations to run for longer hours and we are getting marketers to collaborate and share stocks, rather than have a station with more trucks, they can release those trucks to other stations for circulation.”

On his part, Ogbugo Ukoha, executive director of distribution systems, storage and retailing infrastructure, NMDPRA, said the tightness in Abuja and sections of Lagos was caused by adverse weather, which hampered offshore operations and truck routes.

When asked about efforts to stop hoarding and the nefarious activities of black-marketers, Ukoha said its officials are on the ground, looking through the stations and depots, to ensure that there was no stockpiling.

“Due to the tightness in supply, there may be elements who will try to take advantage of that. We assure Nigerians to go about their businesses and purchase the volume they need without panic,’’ he said.

Ukoha also said there is no intention or plan to increase petrol fuel pump prices, stressing that both institutions will continue to collaborate to maintain energy security.