Avoid panic buying - NNPCL

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited yesterday advised motorists to avoid panic buying of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), petrol, assuring that it has stock that can cater to all for at least 30 days.

The appeal came on the heels of the reappearance of queues at some filling station in Lagos state, a development which the oil firm blamed on “reduced Depot loadout in Apapa, Lagos” over a few days.

A statement by the NNPCL Retail Management assured that the situation has since been addressed and normalcy will return soon as distribution will normalise over the next couple of days.

“We assure all Nigerians that there is ample supply with sufficiency of at least 30 days. Motorists are advised to desist from panic buying as distribution will normalise over the next couple of days,” NNPC Retail said.

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Although the oil giant did not disclose the cause of the reduced loadout, informed sourced in the industry said it is not unconnected with the demand pressure on NNPCL since it now has to cater to more marketers.

“Most marketers can no longer afford to import the product presently owing to the high cost of the dollar against the naira. So they all depend on the NNPCL for supply and this is exerting pressure on the oil firm. Remember that the NNPCL has its own extensive retail outlets to cater to first before considering others,” Samuel Ogunbiyi, an independent oil marketer in Akute, Ogun state, explained.

It will be recalled that fuel scarcity resurfaced last weekend in Lagos, and other parts of the country as most of the filling stations in the metropolis have shuts their gates due to non availability of petrol.