Fuel scarcity: NMDPRA assures Nigerians of stable supply

. .as Ahmed Farouk Tours Apapa depots

Arinze Ifechukwu

 Worried about the recent queues at filling stations across the nation, the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says the queues will soon disappear as marketers commence massive loading of petroleum products.

Mr Ahmed Farouk, Chief Executive of NMDPRA, gave the assurance during a stock monitoring exercise within depots in Lagos on Wednesday.

NMDPRA boss led the staff of the Authority to NIPCO, Total, Aiteo, OVH, Conoil, 11 Plc and HOGL depots in Apapa for on-the-spot assessment and to determine the number of resources each had and distributed.

Farouk said the authority decided to visit the depots because it sought to understand the situation with petrol distribution in the country, as recently, fuel had become scarce.

The authority met with the leadership of the depots and asked them how much fuel they had as business opened for the day.

The depots were also asked how their distribution had been running, and in regards to the scarcity, whether they were hoarding or selling fuel above the standard price.

The Terminal Manager at AITEO, Ogbonna Onyekachi reported the depot had an overall fuel stock of 65 million tonnes, while the Depot Manager at Total Energies, Ernest Umunna said it had two million tonnes.

Adedeji Kolawole said OVH Energy is able to load 65 to 70 trucks per day, while 11 PLC, which reported a daily stock of 9 million tonnes, loaded 90 to 100 trucks in a day.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of 11 PLC told the authority that his depot loads more in times of scarcity, which he ascribed to “people who are panic-buying.”

The MD of Conoil reported his depot had an opening stock of 4.1 million tonnes of fuel and had not sold to third party buyers.

The MD and CEO of NIPCO, Suresh Kumar reported it opened with 28 million tonnes and loaded up to 100 trucks per day.

At HOGL, Farouk disagreed and cautioned the depot officials who had not conducted business yet and were about to load their fuel for distribution and sale.

He said he was not comfortable with the delay at the HOGL depot.

He asked Nigerians not to worry about the availability of fuel, especially as Yuletide approaches.

Farouk said the problem of fuel scarcity happens because the mother vessels are not able to distribute directly and using daughter vessels to reach them incur costs.

The ACE also met with the leadership of the NAVY at NNS Beecroft, where he discussed ways to resolve the allegations of brutality meted out to drivers of independent fuel buyers.