The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. has attributed the nationwide fuel scarcity, which has caused long queues at filling stations, to recent rains, lightning, and thunderstorms.
Dapo Segun, Vice-President (Downstream) of NNPCL, revealed this at a press conference held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
The country has seen a resurgence of fuel queues, with motorists waiting for extended periods at filling stations and black market prices soaring above N1,000.
Apologizing for the inconvenience caused by the queues, Mr. Segun acknowledged that while the NNPC does not wish to make excuses, the recent weather conditions have disrupted fuel distribution.
He assured that the corporation is working to manage the situation effectively.
“We’ll like to apologise to Nigerians for the queues we’ve been seeing springing up. A number of the causes are outside of our control but we’ll do our best to manage. We do not like to make excuses,” Mr Segun stated. “For example, since the rains began, the Estragos channel has been difficult to navigate through. We have vessel after vessel going around there because of siltation, and that has really hindered our ability to bring petroleum products, particularly PMS, up country.”
The NNPCL executive added, “We also understand that with the rains also, situations where to discharge petroleum products where there is lightning, thunderstorms, you have to suspend, not just the discharge of petroleum products onshore but also, the evacuation from the tankers. We’ve had situations that have occurred in recent times.
“We’ve also had issues with the road network. That also gives challenges in bringing these products upcountry.
The tightness you see in Lagos currently was due to a very short supply gap, which has since been redressed. Vessels are in Lagos now, offloading and discharging as I speak. So, that is definitely short-lived.”
Mr Segun vowed that despite the number of factors creating the nightmarish situations, no stone will be left unturned in ensuring that petroleum products get to all nooks and crannies in the country.
