• By Halimah Olamide

As Petrol Now Sells at N850 Per Litre

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Saturday said the worsening fuel scarcity is as a result of discharge challenges.

Femi Soneye, NNPC’s Chief Communication Officer, said in a statement that the company is working round the clock to fix the issues.

“The NNPC Ltd. wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is as a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

“The Company further states that it is working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations,” he said.

This is just as fuel now sells for as high as N850 per litre in some stations in Lagos and Abuja.

This happens at the very few stations that have the product. A brief check around many stations in Lagos on Saturday showed that many NNPC outlets are not selling the product.

Two outlets visited at Omole and Yahaya Abatan areas of Lagos on Saturday showed no signs of sale.

At a filling station close to Justrite on Iju Road, the price showed N780 per litre with a queue. Hundreds of buyers were also seen carrying plastic containers to buy the product.

Most AP stations visited on Saturday had no product to sell.

A buy who identified herself as Deborah Abati, said she had been on the queue at the Mobil outlet at Odo Eran Ogba area of Lagos.

THE REASON NNPC GAVE BEFORE NOW

Two weeks ago, the NNPC had linked fuel scarcity to thunderous rainfalls which made discharge of fuel dangerous because of fears of explosions.

The company had said a recent thunderstorm has disrupted the ship-to-ship transfer of PMS. “The adverse weather condition has also affected berthing at jetties, truck load-outs and transportation of products to filling stations, causing a disruption in station supply logistics”, NNPC said in a statement Monday.

“Due to flammability of petroleum products and in compliance with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency regulations, it was impossible to load petrol during rainstorms and lightning”, it added.

Particularly for Abuja, truck routes from coastal fuel terminals to the capital city have been flooded, according to the NNPC.

It said it was working with relevant stakeholders to resolve the logistical challenges. “Already, loading has commenced in areas where these challenges have subsided, and we are hoping the situation will continue to improve in the coming days and full normalcy will be restored”,