Long queues as fear of fuel scarcity hits Lagos

Economic activities in Lagos and environs are threatened as the various fuel depots are said to be drying up of fuel. This has led to long queues in anticipation of fuel scarcity.

It would be recalled that oil marketers had accused Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) of not giving import permit to them, saying such development may lead to fuel scarcity.

Already, in some places in Lagos and neighbouring states the price of premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol is N105 per litre because the ex-depot has jumped up from N91.50 kobo to N95 per litre. Just as the ex-depot price has increased so also other ancillary costs have gone up thereby increasing the cost of fuel to N105 per litre. For instance, the union fees which usually is 30 kobo now hovers around 50 kobo so also the transport cost.

Investigation carried out by BusinessDay indicates that most of the depots in Lagos have gone very thin, a situation that may get worse within the next few days even if NNPC is able to bring in products it can only satisfy about 60 percent of the country’s needs.

But the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), the subsidiary of the NNPC responsible for product supplies, said that Lagos is being robustly supplied with product.

Its spokesperson, Nasir Imodagbe, told BusinessDay that there is enough product to go round Lagos and environs and advised people not to engage in panic buying.

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) had cautioned the Federal Government over the looming fuel scarcity on account of non-approval of importation allocation of petrol for the first quarter of this year.

The Apapa depots which supply over 33 percent of petrol needs of the nation have been depleted seriously.