Fuel Scarcity: We Will Address The Situation - NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has promised Nigerians that the current fuel scarcity witnessed across the nation will soon be a thing of the past.

The NNPC yesterday promised that it was working to ensure that the situation is addressed quickly and assured Nigerians that the fuel supply situation will improve in the coming days.

Responding to enquiries from Vanguard, spokesperson for the NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, said: “On Friday, we had stated that in 48 hours we will wet the market with 688 million litres of petrol. Distribution of products is by trucking. You will agree that it is some distance from the depots and tank farms in the south to the depots and retail outlets in the hinterland. Expectedly, the queues should disappear before long.”
Furthermore, Alegbe blamed the scarcity on panic buying by motorists and sharp practices by some retail outlets who are hoarding the commodity, thereby frustrating efforts to stem the scarcity. He said the NNPC had informed the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) of these sharp practices by some petrol stations’ owners, calling for adequate sanctions against them.

He said: “Panic buying has persisted in spite of our appeal to motorists. Secondly, some retail outlets are hoarding the product by dispensing from only one pump head. We have reported some of them to the DPR and we believe appropriate sanctions will be meted out to them appropriately. Also, a source in the DPR disclosed that the scarcity currently being experienced in Abuja is as a result of panic buying and not because of non-availability of petrol”.

It will be recalled that the federal government announced the reduction of fuel from N97 per litre to N87 per litre a month ago.