The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company ‘s (NNPC Ltd) approach of direct allocation of Premium Motor Spirit to IPMAN is a jinx breaker that led to product availability.
The IPMAN said decentralisation and direct distribution of product to the independent marketers and monitoring would solve the fuel scarcity permanently if sustained.
IPMAN President, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, said on Thursday in Abuja while reacting to the sudden disappearance of queues at the filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after prolonged fuel scarcity expressed hope that it would be sustained to avoid reoccurrence.
The Department of State Services (DSS) had on Dec. 8, in a meeting with oil industry stakeholders issued a 48 hours ultimatum for stakeholders to resolve ongoing fuel scarcity and warned that it would launch a nationwide operation on saboteurs if queues persist at filling stations.
The DSS waded into the fuel matter following persistent scarcity and long queues especially in the FCT and environs in spite of assurances by the NNPC Ltd. and other regulatory agencies of ensuring normalcy.
Okoronkwo said during the DSS and stakeholders meeting, he and other stakeholders thanked the NNPC for PMS supply but appealed that it should be well distributed and directly to the independent marketers and avoid concentrating on Lagos market only.
IPMAN boss said the DSS statement also triggered the Tank Farm Owners whom prior to the development the product was only being allocated to and had been stocking the product without selling at the approved government rate.
“They have seen that keeping this product and NNPC Ltd. releasing the product to owners of filling stations like IPMAN, they might run into bigger risk.
“Prior to this time the tank farm owners kept this product and began to put prices. The NNPC now distribute directly to IPMAN and others without passing through the former depot owners.
“That is to say independence marketers will be getting their products directly from NNPC.
“Now Calabar-Ogara-Port Harcourt have been mandated with oil to serve so that when there is problem in Lagos it will not affect the national output. Now that the NNPC has asserted its authority, everything will normalise.
“Those are the things that brought this succour right now and they should be sustained, “ the expert said.
He said the PMS ex-depot price had remained N148. 19 and had not been increased except additional price by private tanker owners, adding that once the NNPC choked the system with fuel the pump price would be reduced more at filling stations.
Filling stations in the FCT found out that there were availability of fuel as many stations were seen without queues.
Many filling stations along Kubwa expressway including Shema by Katempe hill, AA Rano, Conoil, NNPC Retail station, Mainland, Sunset and NIPCO by Kubwa second gate had petroleum product and there were no queues.
In the city centre, most stations have few cars and are dispensing with many pumps while pump attendants beckon on cars to patronise them.
There were no queues and in places where there were few cars the operation was orderly.
No station was selling above 180 per litre.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had disbursed over N103 billion bridging claims to oil marketers between Dec. 2021 to August 2022.
