The Federal Government said that loading of petrol is currently going on in most of the depots as about 6 vessels carrying 300 million litres of petrol, ordered by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, to close supply gap, has arrived.
The government also pointed out that the country has about 20 days petrol sufficiency as against the ideal 30 days sufficiency of the product due to the supply gap.
This was made known by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, during a meeting with downstream industry stakeholders on Wednesday in Lagos, where he confirmed that Nigeria currently has 20 days sufficiency of fuel hence there is no need for panic buying by the public.
According to NAN, the downstream petroleum regulatory agency said it was also working round the clock with other stakeholders to address the issue of substandard PMS, also known as petrol, imported into the country.
The meeting had in attendance top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN).
What the CEO of NMDPRA is saying about fuel supply
Ahmed said the imported fuel was discovered to contain methanol above the specified volume, adding that a technical team comprised of stakeholders was working towards resolving the issue.
He said, “Today, I am happy to say that loading has been going on in most of the depots because we have been able to identify, isolate and quarantine the limited amount of gasoline that was affected by the methanol volume that was discovered.
“We have vessels that have arrived the country recently. At least six arrived in the last few days ordered by the NNPC carrying a total volume of close to 300 million litres just to close to gap created by those vessels we have withdrawn from the system.
“All in all, as at today, we have about 20 days sufficiency of PMS in the country. Our ideal days of sufficiency is 30 but the withdrawal of the vessel created the gap in our 30 days sufficiency. Again, with aggressive importation by the NNPC, this will be closed in a few days from the data we got from the NNPC’s import programme.
“Loading is also ongoing in most of the depots that have confirmed spec products so there is no need for panic. Hopefully, by tomorrow or early Friday, Lagos will be cleared.”
The NMDPRA boss revealed that there is a 9,000MT vessel that is currently about to discharge at the Apapa Port, noting that this vessel would be providing petrol to major marketers including OVH Energy, TotalEnergies, 11 Plc, Con Oil and Ardova Plc.
Ahmed said there were also vessels on ground to supply products to DAPPMAN members while the technical team would continue to work on how to salvage the withdrawn products in their depots.
What you should know
- Recall that Nairametrics had about 2 days ago reported scarcity of fuel and long queue of vehicles on the island part of Lagos over the weekend up until Monday morning, later stretching to all other parts of the state causing serious traffic logjam in the affected areas.
- The fuel scarcity in Lagos and Abuja had been attributed to the withdrawal of adulterated petrol by the NNPC. They said that some of the petrol imported into the country under the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) contract had a high content of methanol and ethanol, which are regarded as highly harmful.
