The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) stated that the ongoing petrol scarcity affecting many states across the country will likely take around two weeks to resolve.
According to Chinedu Ukadike, the public relations officer of IPMAN, the product is currently not available in Nigeria.
He explained that the challenge lies in obtaining the product due to maintenance activities at European refineries.
Ukadike also pointed out that the shortage in supply is a result of importation difficulties and delays in the renewal of marketers’ licenses by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
He revealed that only 1,050 out of 15,000 marketers have had their licenses renewed by NMDPRA.
Ukadike emphasized that the root cause of the scarcity and long queues at filling stations is the lack of adequate supply of the product.
“On the part of NNPCL, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, they have attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.
“Once there is a breach in the international supply chain, it will have an impact on domestic supply because we depend on imports. I also have it on good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turnaround maintenance, so sourcing petroleum products has become a bit difficult.
“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30-day supply sufficiency is disrupted, it takes two to three months to restore it.
“We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply, and with another week, normalcy should return.”
