Oil Marketers Reveal Cause Of Ongoing Fuel Scarcity

Nigerians may have to endure a little more on the lingering fuel scarcity across the country as oil marketers have attributed the recent scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to persistent logistical challenges.

Addressing the pressing challenge while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, explained that oil marketers are currently facing supply constraints, which means they are only able to distribute what they have available.

When asked to elaborate on the nature of these logistical challenges, he elaborated that the issue pertains to the process of ship-to-ship transfer. Until a ship has received its cargo, it is unable to deliver to any of the depots. Similarly, until the depots receive their products, the retailers are unable to access these products.

Gillis-Harry said, “I think until we get our supply challenges sorted out efficiently and abundantly, we will not be able to get out of this circle.

“I believe you must have heard the NNPC’s communications director, who explained that the issues at stake are still logistics-related.

“So until they get that resolved, we may just be managing the little they bring, and give to us to distribute among our members.

“NNPCL is doing its best to bring in products bit by bit, and we can only supply what we have.”

Elaborating further on what he meant by logistics challenges, the oil marketers’ leader said, “The logistics issue is about ship-to-ship transfer. Until the ship gets products, it cannot deliver to any of the depots. And until depots have products, we, the retailers, cannot also have access to products.”

He, however, assured that marketers were in talks with the NNPCL oversupply challenges.

He said, “We have been speaking with NNPCL. We encourage them to do more, and I can assure you that they are trying their best.”

Naija News reports that Gillis-Harry’s clarification regarding the scarcity comes following persistent shortages of products, particularly in the northern regions of the nation.

The situation escalated to the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and other states over the weekend.

Reports earlier had indicated that a litre of petrol is now being sold for between ₦800 and ₦1,000 at some filling stations, a price increase that has also affected transportation costs.

Nonetheless, some filling stations have not been selling the product, as black market operators have exploited the situation to conduct business at a rapid pace.

This was highlighted in reports last week, which suggested that the scarcity was linked to the debt incurred by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to international oil traders.

In response to these allegations on Sunday, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, refuted the claims.

Soneye, however, recognized that it is common for businesses to incur debts at some point due to the nature of the oil trading industry, where transactions are often conducted on credit.

“But NNPC Ltd., through its subsidiary, NNPC Trading, has many open trade credit lines from several traders.

“The company is paying its obligations of related invoices on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis,” he told reporters.