The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, said yesterday that the petrol scarcity currently spreading to more states across the country will take at least two weeks to normalise.
This is even as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NPCL insisted yesterday that it has adequate stock of the product.
However, the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, said the product is not available in the country.
He said it has become a bit of a challenge to source the product because most refineries in Europe are undergoing turnaround maintenance.
Ukadike also blamed the acute shortage in supply on importation bottlenecks and the slow pace of marketers’ licence renewal by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
He disclosed that only 1,050 marketers out of 15,000 have had their licences renewed by NMDPRA.
However, reacting to the crisis, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, expressed optimism that the long queues will clear in the coming days, adding that NNPC Ltd has adequate stock.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Secretary, Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Clement Isong, said: “As the NNPC Ltd said, there were logistics issues and they have been resolved. The marketers who have fuel, are working round the clock and the queues will be cleared in the coming days.”
However, the shortage of petrol witnessed in Nasarawa, Niger, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, last week, spread to Lagos, Oyo, Osun and other states, weekend, thus affecting the movement of goods and persons and by extension, the nation’s economy.