Fuel Scarcity Brews as Fuel Prices Rise To N720/Litre

Fuel scarcity is happening in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria because private depot owners raised the price of petrol from N630 to N720 per litre.

This increase is causing problems, especially in Abuja and nearby states, where some gas stations are charging up to N900 per litre.

Many gas stations are running out of fuel; some in Lagos and Ogun have completely run out and refuse to buy more fuel at these high prices.

Hammed Fashola, Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the only company bringing in petrol right now, isn’t giving enough fuel to stations, causing them to close.

The situation is getting worse because the NNPCL owes a lot of money to fuel suppliers, more than $6 billion. This debt has made some suppliers stop selling fuel to Nigeria, reducing the amount of petrol coming into the country.

IPMAN has asked NNPCL many times to sell fuel directly to them as they do with big marketers, but they haven’t gotten a positive response.

Despite these efforts, the fuel problem varies in different areas. In Lagos, only a few stations have fuel, and others are either closed or selling at very high prices due to the shortage. The situation is less severe in some remote areas.

NNPCL Response

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recently explained why there’s been a shortage of petrol.

On Monday, Olufemi Soneye, who handles communications for the company, said that the problem is mainly because recent thunderstorms have messed up the process of transferring petrol from big ships to smaller ones.

These storms also caused flooding, blocking the roads used to transport petrol from the coast to Abuja.