Scarcity of petroleum products looms as Ejigbo depot shut
Tension is building up over a possible petroleum product scarcity, as there has been no loading at the Ejigbo depot for over three weeks.
The depot was shut to allow for the repair of system B pipeline network said to have been affected by vandalism and rupture.
BusinessDay gathers that although the repair had been carried out, the Pipelines Products Marketing Company (PPMC) was yet to resume product pumping to the depot due to heavy indebtedness to pipeline surveillance and security agencies. The surveillance officials are said to have pulled out, insisting on payment of outstanding salaries to return to work.
“If they sourced for money to repair the ruptured pipeline, why can’t they pay the security,” a source told BusinessDay on Wednesday.
Already, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has expressed concern over the development and warns of its implication on product supply if the situation is not addressed.
Salimon Oladiti, president of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), told BusinessDay that members were beginning to feel the impact because of the difficulty associated with driving into Apapa to load from other depots, due to the ongoing repair of Ijora-Apapa road. “Our members are suffering looking for where to load,” Oladiti said.
Also, Ayo Alanamu, chairman of Ejigbo Satellite depot, said the disruption to loading at the depot could cause fuel scarcity within the metropolis, if not urgently addressed.
According to Alanamu, an official of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who confirmed the maintenance work on system 2B pipeline network, said non-payment of salary to the pipelines surveillance security affected the pumping of products.
“We have not loaded a single product from the depot in the last three weeks and this has increased the ex-depot price in most private depots in Apapa,” he said.
The IPMAN boss urged the management of NNPC to urgently intervene to avert another round of scarcity that could arise if not carefully managed before the weekend.
“Today, the situation has worsened as Mosinmi, and Ibadan depots now have low stock. The two depots which usually load 200 trucks each on daily basis now load between 10 to 12 trucks daily,” he said.
He said marketers would not hesitate to sell petrol above pump price of N145 per liter if private depots failed to sell petrol at the official ex-depot price.
He said it had been a serious challenge for trucks coming from Kwara, Ilorin, Ekiti, and Kogi to load at Apapa due to the ongoing road repairs.
Tokunbo Korodo, former chairman of the Lagos zone of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), also said if the situation was not addressed to allow resumption of pumping of product to Ejigbo, there was bound to be scarcity.
“We’re not feeling the impact now because the filling stations still have products in their reservoir. Once they run out of stocks and the situation continues, there is going be scarcity because tankers are finding it difficult to access Apapa,” Korodo said.