Page 8 - DMEA Week 11 2022

DMEA FUELS DMEA

Nigerian administration praises

NNPC efforts to ease fuel shortages

AFRICA A representative of Nigerian President Muham- and Ebonyi,” he continued. “It also indicated
madu Buhari’s administration told Vanguard on that in 13 states, there were medium queues of
March 13 that efforts by the national oil com- maximum 50 cars. Those states are Delta, Rivers,
pany (NOC) to ease the fuel shortages that have Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Nasarawa, Bauchi,
gripped the country for the past few weeks were Kano, Ogun, Ondo, Sokoto and Zamfara. In the
having a positive impact. rest of the 14 states, there were still High Queues
The administration official, who was not of above 50 cars at a time in the filling stations as
named, reported that Nigerian National Petro- at [the] middle of last week.”
leum Corp. (NNPC) had continued to move pet-
rol and diesel from its storage depots 24 hours a Higher prices
day with the aim of making more fuel available Yusuf Lawan Othman, the head of Nigeria’s
to retail sellers. This is expected to help shorten National Association of Road Transport Owners
the queues at filling stations, he said. (NARTO), has noted that rising diesel prices are
These measures are in line with the plans becoming increasingly burdensome for mem-
that NNPC agreed with the federal government bers of his group.
earlier in March, he noted. They are also being Speaking at NARTO’s annual general meet-
carried out with “the direct participation and ing (AGM) on March 10, Othman pointed out
support of members of the Major Oil Marketers that trucking companies and truck drivers had
Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independ- no way to avoid the impact of recent increases
ent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria in world crude oil prices. Nigeria’s dependence
(IPMAN) and private depot owners,” he added. on imported petroleum products exacerbates the
As of March 11, Nigeria’s inventories of pet- problem, he was quoted as saying in a report by
rol amounted to more than 1bn litres, with more Nigerian daily Leadership.
than 200mn of the total in the Lagos loading “As at today, the price of diesel is impacting
zone and more than 100mn in the Warri/Oghara negatively on our business – not only our busi-
loading zone and the balance held in marine ness but almost all activities in Nigeria because
storage facilities, he stated. This is enough to as at today, fuel is imported into the country,” he
cover about one month of consumption, assum- commented.
ing that the country’s drivers use about 60mn “And naturally, it’s usually at the international
litres per day, he said. price, and everybody knows that that the inter-
“By the middle of last week, a National Filling national price is affected by the current war in
Stations Queue Map presented to the Presidency Ukraine and Russia. So of course, because we
and [the Federal Executive Council] indicated import it, it’s really very costly.”
that fuel supply had returned to normal in four He acknowledged that Nigeria’s federal gov-
states of Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and ernment had raised the freight rates paid to
the [Federal Capital Territory],” the official transport contractors in an attempt to provide
added. support to the sector. Nevertheless, he said, the
“In another six states, there were very small industry as a whole still faces increased expenses
queues with mostly about 10 cars at a time. and must pass the cost on to its customers, in a
Those states are Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Imo, Abia move that affects the entire economy.™

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