Fuel Scarcity May Escalate As Marketers Reject Supply Structure

Fuel scarcity and hike, which heightened in Lagos, at the weekend, could extend to other parts of the country as oil marketers rejected the current supply structure.

To this end, commuters and motorists are having difficult times in Lagos as long queues overstretched capacity of petroleum dispensing outlets mostly operated by major oil marketers.

LEADERSHIP reports that independent marketers are gradually winding down operations following inability to access products given outrageous ex-depot prices.

President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr Prince Billy Harry has said, his members now access products at the cost of N190 and N113 per liter of petrol from private depot operators.

“Information reaching me in Abuja indicates that my members are buying petrol between N190 and N113 per liter. So the environment is no longer favourable and the competition favours the major marketers because they have the capital so what is happening is that our members would shut down until the major marketers exhaust their delivery to enable them sell.

“We cannot sell at the same price they sell because the structure in terms of delivery time tilts towards their favour. So the situation in Lagos is likely to continue and probably get bad except government intervenes” Harry told LEADERSHIP on phone.

He said the situation can get better if government considers credit sales to independent marketers and direct sales to members.

President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Okoronkwo, told our correspondent on phone that marketers can no longer carry the burden as he called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Limited (NNPCL), to restructure allocation and distribution pattern or the situation would escalate.

“We are calling on the NNPCL to separate the Independent Marketers from the Major Marketers and Depot operators. We have five zones in the country.