Nigeria is facing a potential fuel scarcity crisis as seven oil marketers have stopped importing petrol.
Due to this recent development, which goes against the essence of the oil market regulation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is now the only company that imports fuel.
It has come to light that Petrocam, the last private importer of petrol in the country, is unable to sell its stock as a result of the introduction of a partial subsidy on the product and NNPCL’s refusal to raise the pump price.
Oil marketers contend that the existing price of the commodity does not align with current market realities despite the Federal government’s refusal to acknowledge the reinstatement of subsidy.
Before last month, oil marketers admitted, they pushed NNPCL to raise the price each time they imported the commodity in order to reflect the landing cost.
According to reports, many depots and filling stations are now experiencing a shortage of petrol, resulting in queues at outlets that still have fuel to dispense.
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An industry insider told Punch Newspapers that despite several marketers importing products alongside NNPCL in the past, none have been able to do so for over a month due to the reintroduction of subsidy.
“So, that is why you hear that the landing cost currently is about N720 per litre, but the NNPC is still selling at between N580 and N617, depending on your location,” he said.
The source claims that despite an increase in the product’s landing cost, the NNPCL was forced to maintain the current pricing due to the high cost of living in the nation, protests, and labour union pressure.
The source continued to raise concerns about the NNPCL’s failure to supply the nation with petrol, noting that the NNPCL lacks sufficient petroleum to dispense at its retail locations, let alone supply to third parties.
“The issue is that the President did not understand the situation before he said subsidy was gone. If he understood the sector, he wouldn’t have made that announcement.
“The government cannot announce that subsidy is back, but it has to plan right now,” the source concluded.
