FG moves to end fuel scarcity, directs depot operators sell at N175/litre

The Federal Government has directed depot operators to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol at the official price of N172 per litre to independent marketers.

This followed the supply of over 150 million litres of petrol to the Ijegun tank farm in Lagos State.

This supply accounts for up to 35 percent of national consumption volume and will go a long way in addressing the current fuel scarcity in the country.

The officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) gave this directive during a visit to the tank farm on Friday.

They assured Nigerians that the independent marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) would now get petrol at the ex-depot price of N172 per litre like the major marketers.

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The development will enable the markets to sell petrol at N184 per litre in the Southern or N194 in the Northern parts of the country as approved by the regulator.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, on Wednesday announced that the government has earmarked N3.36 trillion as fuel subsidy payment for the next six months.

Kyari, who stated this in a Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, said there was no need for marketers to sell fuel above the pump price as the government had been paying at least N185 for every litre of petrol in the country.