Fuel crisis lingers as vessels berth at Lagos ports

The fuel crisis being experienced by Nigerians is yet to abate even as petrol vessels birthed at Lagos and other ports in the country.

Our correspondent observed that the queues in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of the country persisted on Tuesday as the tanks run dry in filling stations.

Dealers who spoke to The PUNCH disclosed that petrol vessels were berthing at the ports one after the other, saying this may not be enough to rescue the situation.

According to them, depot owners now supply fuel to their filling stations only due to low supply.

“The depots are not wet yet. We are still doing epileptic loading. No product for third parties. That is, the depots are prioritising their own stations.

“That is always the case for depot operators. They will prefer to keep their stations wet to promote customer loyalty. Independent marketers will be left in the cold,” a dealer said.

Another source told our correspondent, “It’s not that vessels are not berthing, but the rate cannot meet the expected loading to reduce queues. We need to double up. Apapa jetty alone needs at least two vessels discharging simultaneously, but the vessels are coming one after the other and that  cannot  solve the pending problem.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Ports Authority said 16 ships were awaiting to berth at the Lagos ports as of Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria said this was disclosed in the Tuesday edition of the ‘NPA Shipping Position’, a daily briefing by the port authority.

According to the NPA, two vessels are set to berth with petrol, while another two will arrive with bulk and butane gas.

“The 16 vessels will berth at ENL Consortium, AMPT, Apapa Bulk, and Greenview Development Nigeria Ltd. terminals in Lagos,” the NPA stated.

NAN reports that nine vessels are currently discharging crude oil, diesel, containers, gasoline oil, and other cargoes at various ports in Lagos.

The PUNCH reported that many petrol depots were dry as of Sunday, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country.

It was gathered that black marketers have since taken advantage of the situation, selling as high as N1,300 per litre and N1,500 per litre in parts of Lagos and Ogun states.

Long queues started building up at fuel stations in Abuja and Lagos on Friday and have persisted.

“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT (Federal Capital Territory) is a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,” NNPC ‘s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, had stated.

The company added that it was “working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations.”

However, despite the assurance by the NNPC, the situation has not improved as expected.

The PUNCH reports that the cost of transportation has increased as most filling stations are shut.