NNPC to solve scarcity by importing 1bn litres of fuel in March
NNPC is taking measures to halt the ‘artificially induced petrol scarcity’ noticeable in some parts of the country.
The corporation said it planned to import more than one billion litres of petrol in March to address the short fall in supply.
The NNPC Group MD, Dr Joseph Dawha, began monitoring fuel stations in Abuja in conjunction with the CEOs of the corporation’s subsidiaries.
The other people leading the monitoring include the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, and the MD of Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr Haruna Momoh.
The Director of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr George Osahon, was also in the team.
Dawha said the exercise was to checkmate hoarding and panic buying of petrol, particularly in Abuja, Lagos and its environs.
The GMD said there was enough petrol in the nation’s stock to take care of the motorists’ needs.
He said as the supplier of last resort, the corporation was doing everything within its mandate to alleviate the avoidable hardship caused by the situation.
He said, “The problem we have is not really with the supply because there is enough supply. The PPMC has almost more than 800,000 metric tones that will be arriving in the month of March. This is over a billion litres in terms of our daily consumption.
“Other marketers are also bringing in their cargo so by the end of the week, hopefully, everything will be clear. I think we should just encourage the people to desist from panic buying; things are going to be very okay.
“There are challenges with distributions, but we will continue to handle those challenges and we’ll try everything possible to make it seamless, smooth and as stable as possible beyond April.”
Osahon said the agency would collaborate with the security agencies to force marketers to sell products at the regulated price.
He said, “We are going to get the law enforcement agencies to force them to sell and at the regulated price.
“We are doing that at several filling stations around the country; we are doing that to support PPMC and PPPRA and make sure that these things ease off as soon as possible.”
