The Independent Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) announced on Friday that the volume of product supplied to marketers at loading points has dropped by about 50 percent.
The vice president of IPMAN, Zarma Mustapha, disclosed this while speaking on Sunrise Daily Channels Television on Friday.
He said the country is in a complicated situation due to the burden of subsidies borne by the government which is no longer sustainable.
He noted that the importation of petroleum products by National Petroleum Company of Nigeria (NNPC), Limited affects government revenues.
“Sometimes in July and August, the volume of lifts that we have and now have dropped by about 40 percent or 50 percent,” Mr. Mustapha said.
He noted that the existence of queues at fuel stations across the country may be due to the high cost of subsidies.
“We just think it’s possible (due to) the volume of products we bring; more volume, more subsidy costs.
“It’s not like we’re bringing more. If we’re bringing more, we’ll have the same volume we usually get at the loading point.
“Currently, with the trend in private depots, the volume available is not enough. Private depots are also contributing by not providing products because they are regulated by the NNPC,” he said.
He further explained that he has not heard any official statement from the NNPC or the industry regulatory body, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), regarding the insufficient supply.
“But by the looks of things, [with] What happens at the loading point, the product is not enough because we usually bring it, supply it to the private depot, and buy it from the private depot,” he said.
According to him, NNPC is responsible for importing products and distributing them to private depots because independent marketers do not have depots.
“Yesterday, I bought a product in Lagos at a depot at N247 per liter to be transported to the far north…even we as independent marketers do not know what is happening.
“As of yesterday, it is about N240 in Lagos, N235 in Warri, and N240 in Port Harcourt. In Calabar, it is as high as N250 per litre.
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“As a marketer, you will buy the product for transmission up to your retail store. You will transport it yourself,” he said.
In recent months, especially since the government announced plans to remove fuel subsidies, Nigerians have found it difficult to get oil products at filling stations. The shortage persists even though the government has repeatedly claimed that it has sufficient stocks of petroleum products. In many parts of the country, filling station operators sell at a higher price than the government’s pump price.
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