Fuel scarcity will end if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) ensures equitable allocation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), marketers said yesterday.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), whose President, Debo Ahmed, spoke via a statement in Abuja, also urged NNPCL to improve PMS importation.

There has been a lingering scarcity of PMS in major cities, with stakeholders trading blame over the cause.

This is despite a 48-hour ultimatum on December 8 by the Department of State Services (DSS) to the NNPCL, IPMAN and other stakeholders in the oil sector to resolve the crisis.

For weeks, Nigerians continued enduring pains to buy petrol at filling stations, especially those belonging to IPMAN, where products sell for as high as N300 per litre.

The government has pegged the pump price at between N165 and N169.

But the scarcity appears to be easing in Abuja. There were virtually no queues around the retail outlets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday.

The IPMAN boss said: “To stop the tide of this fuel scarcity, NNPC Ltd should improve on its importation and be equitable in its allocation of petrol to marketers.”

He added that IPMAN has the highest market share, but its members do not have an allocation of petrol commensurate to their market share.

Ahmed said: “Leaving IPMAN members at the mercy of private depot owners at that high rate will not bring down the prices nor douse the scarcity.

“IPMAN members cannot access petrol effectively from private depots with their over-blotted prices ranging from N215 – N220 per litre excluding transportation and depot expenses.”

He said that NNPC Ltd should allocate petrol to IPMAN at designated depots across the country for IPMAN members to buy at a controlled price.

The statement reads in part: “Sales at the various filling stations was smooth as per government control price but immediately private depot owners started increasing their prices, the bandwagon effects became noticeable at the filling stations.

“The increase in the price of petrol at the filling stations was a result of the increase in price at the private depots where IPMAN members buy their products.

“The other aspect that exacerbates the fuel scarcity was the non-availability of petrol in the system. Usually, when importation cannot meet up our consumption the demand becomes more than the supply which invariably distorts pricing equilibrium. NNPC Ltd should import massively.”

Ahmed also spoke on the perception that its members were hoarding the product, saying it was false.

In Benue State, there was petrol at almost all the filling stations in the state capitals and local government areas.

There were few queues of vehicles waiting for PMS in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital and environs. .

In Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, a majority of the filling stations did not dispense fuel.

A few petrol stations that did sold it at N250 per litre.

There were long queues at filling stations in Plateau State with only a few dispensing fuel at between N350 and N400 per litre..

Petrol sold at N179 per litre in filling stations of a major marketer, MRS, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, but there were long queues.

In Delta State, the fuel crisis worsened with petrol stations in major cities and others selling at N270 per litre.

However, it was unclear if the increase in pump prices was due to the festive season or an upsurge in the number of Southeast-bound travellers driving through the town.

Petrol was still being sold at N250 per litre at most filling stations in Benin and its environs in Edo State.

Long queues returned to petrol stations across the state especially in Osogbo as fuel scarcity lingered ahead of the Christmas celebration.

In Kano, fuel was available at between N310 and N350 per litre in filling stations owned by independent marketers, but hawkers sold theirs at up to N450 per litre in the ‘black market’. (The Nation: Text, excluding headline)

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