Fuel Scarcity Persists Amid NNPC’s 6.7m Litres Daily Sufficiency Claim | WakaWaka Reporters
fuel pump

Fuel Scarcity Persists Amid NNPC’s 6.7m Litres Daily Sufficiency Claim

Long vehicular queues were seen in few petrol stations across Lagos metropolis yesterday despite claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), that the nation’s three refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri have attained a combined production of over 6.76 million litres of petrol per day.

This was even as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and agencies continued the monitoring exercise across the country.

Though majority of the fuel stations owned by major marketers have complied with the new Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) price of N86.50, which became effective January 1, other private marketers were yet to adjust to the new price regime as at yesterday.

Reports has it that major marketers like Mobil, Oando, Forte, Conoil and Total are complying but indications as at the time of this report are that the independent marketers were yet to fully comply with the PPPRA directive.

Majority of the independent marketers’ retail stations visited yesterday were yet to fully comply with the directive, an indication some are ready to dare government. Others who are not ready to incur the wrath of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) rather decided to shut down their operations in protest against the N86.50kobo per litre, which they claimed was forced on them by the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, NNPC on Tuesday announced that over 6.76 million litres of petrol per day is projected to increase to over 10 million litres per day by the end of January 2016.

The corporation further gave a breakdown of the premium motor spirit, PMS (also known as petrol) yield from the plants indicating that while Port Harcourt Refinery, which was re-streamed a week earlier is producing some 4.09 million litres, the Kaduna Refinery is contributing some 1.29 million litres and Warri, which was re-streamed on Sunday is posting a yield of some 1.38 million litres.

NNPC equally confirmed that the PMS volumes from the refineries, which are currently operating at an appreciable percentage of their nameplate capacities, would help stabilise the fuel supply and distribution situation in the country.