Residents of Lagos and its environs are facing yet another bout of petrol scarcity with many oil marketers closing their outlets to motorists and buyers.
This troubling situation has also affected the nation’s capital, Abuja, and surrounding areas.
The recent scarcity in Abuja was initially attributed to poor road conditions and the high cost of diesel required for distribution, but the situation has now extended to Lagos.
This crisis has left only NNPC Limited, the national oil company, available to serve customers in most parts of Lagos.
The root causes of this renewed scarcity can be traced to market uncertainties and the lack of foreign exchange.
Currently, the informal exchange rate stands at over N1,000/dollar, making it financially unviable for other operators to import petrol despite deregulation.
In response to the crisis, Chinedu Okoronkwo, President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), indicated that measures are being taken to help oil marketers access foreign exchange at a more sustainable rate.
However, in Abuja, major marketers have taken matters into their own hands by raising pump prices from N615 per liter to N625 per litre.
The situation has been exacerbated by the reliance on NNPC as the sole importer of petrol, creating a bottleneck in the supply chain.
Chinedu Ukadike, the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, explained, “Most private depots depend on the NNPC for their supplies. This arrangement encourages profiteering and has caused difficulties in picking products from NNPC, leading to the current scarcity.”
NNPC’s Managing Director reassured that they are expecting new supplies, but the issue of petrol scarcity still looms large. As depot owners grapple with increased costs of crude oil and exchange rates, many are unable to secure the necessary loans due to high-interest rates, further intensifying the challenges faced by the downstream sector.
This petrol scarcity serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of Nigeria’s fuel supply chain and the need for sustainable solutions to address the nation’s energy demands.
