Fuel prices have surged to N1,500 per litre in Nigeria, following reports that depots across the country are running dry. This significant increase comes amid ongoing challenges in the supply chain and distribution network for petroleum products.
The long queues that started building up at fuel stations in Lagos, Abuja, and other states on Friday do not look to be reducing anytime soon.
On Saturday, in response to the lengthy lines and shortages in some parts of the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited stated via her X account that the limitation in petrol supply and distribution was caused by an issue in the discharge operations of a handful of vessels.
“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,” the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said.
The company added that it was “working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations.”
Speaking to reporters, The National Vice-President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, said “We, marketers, too are surprised that we couldn’t get fuel as we used to get at depots. We were worried too; we didn’t know the cause until the NNPC came out with a release on Saturday. Let’s just believe what the NNPC said, that they would arrest the situation,”
“That is why independent marketers sell around N800 or so. Until we address this issue of direct supply, there will be issues. We keep shouting to the NNPC to look at that area properly because something is fundamentally wrong with our distribution channel and until they correct that, we will continue to have this issue of fuel scarcity.”
Many fuel stations around the Lekki-Epe expressway did not open for business while the handful that opened had long queues of vehicles and people buying in jerrycans.
These fuel queues have in turn caused a gridlock in the expressway with motorists forced to spend extra hours getting to their destinations.