Fuel Scarcity to Continue for Two More Weeks – IPMAN

The countrywide fuel shortage is expected to last for an additional two weeks, according to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

IPMAN’s public relations officer, Chinedu Ukadike, told reporters that the product is unavailable in the nation and that obtaining it is now difficult due to turnaround maintenance taking place at the majority of refineries in Europe.

Ukadike attributed the severe lack of supplies on delays in imports and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) sluggish renewal of licenses for marketers. The NMDPRA has only renewed the licenses of 1,050 marketers out of 15,000, he continued.

Ukadike said;

“The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations.

“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”. [CONTINUE READING HERE]