Oil marketers adjust petrol pump prices to sell at new costs, set date to end scarcity

Filling stations across Nigeria have adjusted their pump prices following the scarcity of petrol, which has entered the second week.

Legit.ng findings show that petrol stations in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano have adjusted their prices upwards due to the scarcity.

Filling stations sell petrol at higher costs

Most petrol stations selling the product in Lagos adjusted their pump prices to N750 per litre from the N630 they sold the product before the scarcity began.

Station attendants told Legit.ng that the new prices were not just due to the scarcity but also because freighting costs have skyrocketed due to diesel prices.

One David Adigun at a Mobil petrol station in the Lagos area said that the prices increased due to the time and resources it takes to truck the product to the station.

He stated that part of the reason the scarcity had persisted was logistics.

“Right now, logistics is one of the top reasons we are experiencing scarcity because not only is the product not available, but it takes a lot of money to move to our stations,” he said.

Marketers set two two-week deadlines to end scarcity

Motorists have reported buying petrol higher than the average N620 per litre.

They report that the scarcity has driven up the commodity's price and that their only option is to pass the cost on to the commuters.

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) disclosed on Sunday, April 28, 2024, that the current scarcity will take at least two weeks to clear.

The development comes as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said it has adequate stock to end the scarcity.

Vanguard reports that IPMAN's spokesman, Chinedu Ukadike, said the product is currently out of stock in Nigeria.

Scarcity is blamed on import challenges

He said it is challenging to source petrol because most European refineries are undergoing turnaround maintenance.

A Legit.ng report said the IPMAN spokesman blamed the acute scarcity on import bottlenecks and the slow pace of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA)'s renewal of marketers' licenses.

According to him, only 1,050 marketers have had their licenses renewed by the agency.

Also, the NNPC had said that the reason for the current scarcity was due to logistic issues, which have since been sorted.

He said:

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

“NNPCL, Nigeria's sole supplier of petroleum products, has attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.”

Ukadike said the marketers expect an improvement by next week, when NNPC will have restored supplies, and another week before normalcy returns.

“We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply, and normalcy should return within another week.”

Petrol hits N900 per litre on the black market

Other findings show that many motorists and other users were forced to patronise black market sellers who openly sold the product for between N900 and N1,000 per litre in some parts of Lagos.

The oil marketers also blamed NNPC for not supplying adequate petrol to them, according to a Nairametrics report.