Fuel scarcity hasn’t ended despite fuel supply efficiency claims by NNPC

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, said that even though low investments have hampered Nigeria’s petroleum sector, that the company has no problems delivering fuel to the country.  

Speaking to Gulf Intelligence earlier this week, Kyari said the NNPC does not have any challenges delivering fuel to the country as it has enough cash flow to carry out this duty. 

According to him, the NNPC is meeting all its supply obligations and does not have any payment issues with its suppliers.  

Reality check: Meanwhile, Nigerians are facing a double dilemma of accessing fuel and buying the commodity at higher prices. This week, Nairametrics gathered that fuel scarcity has intensified across cities and communities, with motorists and business owners spending hours at filling stations trying to buy fuel. 

Unfortunately, the hours spent at stations have reduced productivity for many Nigerians and have affected schools, businesses, and households.  

Growing trends: Earlier this week, a survey by Nairametrics revealed that civil servants and small business owners who do not have their private cars, experience delays when trying to get buses at bus stops on their way to work. This is especially true for Nigerians who reside in Abuja and Lagos.  

• Some filling stations in Abuja are locked while black market traders parade their jerry cans in front of the stations to sell to desperate customers, especially small business owners who need to run their PMS generators for business purposes due to failure in power supply.  
• Some filling stations in Lagos state are selling at N169 per litre, while others are selling at N200 to N240 per litre.  
• Ijeh Ohiowere, a Lagos-based chef told Nairametrics that some filling stations on the Island and Surulere area are selling at N169 per litre and the number of motorists is higher in such stations than at those who sell at higher prices. According to her, the queues are longer where the prices are cheaper. She also said that stations at Iyana-Iba are selling at N240 per litre.  
• Recall that Nairametrics recently reported that fuel now sells for N450 per litre in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, N300 per litre in Benin, Edo state, N350 per litre in Calabar, Cross River state, and as high as N500 per litre in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.   
• Filling stations in Abuja that are open are mostly selling the commodity only to car, bus, motorcycle, and tricycle owners and not to business owners who carry jerry cans to fill their generators. So, they end up patronizing black market traders who sell for as high as N350 to N550 per litre, depending on the location they sell from.  

For the record: Mele Kyari also spoke about local refining capacity which he says will uplift the domestic market. According to him, when the refurbishment of all refineries is complete by H1/2023 and Dangote refinery comes onstream, local refining capacity will be at 1.1 million barrels per day, which will reduce petroleum products imports.