NNPC owns up on fuel scarcity, attributes scarcity to road construction

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, owned up responsibilities for the lingering fuel scarcity in Abuja and Lagos, attributing the scarcity of petrol to road construction in the state.

The Executive Vice President of the NNPC, Downstream, Adeyemi Adetunju, at the briefing explained: “The recent queues in Lagos are largely due to ongoing road infrastructure projects around Apapa and access road challenges in some parts of Lagos depots.

“The gridlock is easing out and NNPC has programmed vessels and trucks to unconstrained depots and massive load outs from depots to various states are closely being monitored.

“Abuja is impacted by the challenges recorded in Lagos. NNPC Retail and key marketers have intensified dedicated loading into Abuja to restore normalcy as soon as possible.

“We want to reassure all Nigerians that NNPC has sufficient products, and we significantly increased product loading including 24-hour operations in selected depots and extended hours at strategic stations to ensure products sufficiency nationwide.”

He added: “We are also working with the NMDPRA, MOMAN, DAPPMAN, IPMAN, NARTO, PTD, and other industry stakeholders to ensure normalcy is returned.”

He said that the NNPC has a “national PMS stock of over 2 billion litres. This is equivalent to over 30 days of sufficiency”.

He was, however, silence on the high cost of buying petrol during the scarcity period in relation to the subsidy paid by the federal government.