• Queues return to Abuja amid 12 new CNG stations
• Marketers decry low supply from NNPCL
• Black marketers hike price to N1000/litre
• NNPCL denies owing traders
Nigeria may face fresh scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the coming days as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited allegedly owes traders $6 billion due to subsidies.
Already, motorists in the nation’s capital, Abuja, yesterday returned to long queues, shut fuel stations and rising price from black marketers as scarcity of PMS coincided with the commissioning of 12 new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations by NNPCL and NIPCO Gas Limited.
Though the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, had last month said subsidy on petrol stands at N5.4 trillion in 2024, the President Bola Tinubu administration is living in denial on the grounds that no subsidy is being paid.
A report by Reuters yesterday indicated that some traders were already pulling out of PMS supply to NNPCL over a debt of $6 billion. The development, according to the report, has drastically reduced the level of PMS coming into Nigeria for June and July.
There are indications that NNPCL was yet to pay traders for some January imports. The backlog stands between $4 billion to $5 billion with fresh orders. Under contract terms, NNPCL is supposed to pay within 90 days of delivery.
The import of PMS and payment of subsidy remained a contentious issue in Nigeria with most stakeholders insisting that the scheme lack transparency and accountability. While NNPCL didn’t directly comment on the fuel crisis, spokesman of the company, Olufemi Soneye, challenged Reuters to name the traders that the firm owes.
Reacting to Reuters, Soneye said the claim is false, adding: “Did they name the marketers they claim we supposedly owe? Let them name them.”
Reuters said Nigeria’s tenders to buy PMS in June and July were smaller at about 850,000 tonnes instead of the typical one million tonnes in previous months.
Directly opposite the headquarters of the nation’s oil company at the Central Business District yesterday, motorists spent hours on queue trying to buy petrol from TotalEnergies and Conoil as black marketers were selling a litre for N1,000. Most of the independent marketers along the Kubwa expressway as well as the Airport road were shut even as Forte Oil opposite Transcorp Hilton in Maitama had a long queue.
Some NNPC acquired stations along the Kubwa expressway had no fuel, while A.A Rano, Shafa and others with mega stations were also out of stock.
Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) admitted that there is crisis in terms of supply but were not sure of the true situation as the two bodies harped on the need for a clearer picture of the situation from NNPC.
Although the downstream of the petroleum sector is expected to be deregulated, the national oil company remained the major importer of PMS and in turn wholesale distributor to all the marketers.
In a related development, NNPC said the company would build over 100 CNG sites in the next one year, including 16 NNPC Gas Marketing and NIPCO Gas JV sites. Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari, said the drive to bring CNG closer to Nigerians has since commenced and is irreversible.
