The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPC) has begun loading trucks at all depots to clear current scarcity being experienced across the nation.
NNPC noted that there was an availability of 1.7 billion litres of petrol currently in stock.
The NNPC Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari said this to journalists in Abuja, after meeting with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petrol Tanker Drivers (PTD).
The Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) were also present at the meeting.
Kyari noted that the additional fuel would end the persistent queues which continued in Abuja and other parts of the country, with fewer stations dispensing the product.
“Currently, we have over 1.7 billion litres of fuel in our hands both in marine and on land.
This means that we have the capacity to load out excessively from all depots. We have put in place measures to ensure 24hrs loading in all depots.
This will ensure that scarcity created by panic buying will now be freed so that normalcy will return to filling stations across the country,” he said.
Kyari stated that very soon, the scarcity will be resolved, adding that neither the Federal Government nor the NNPC had any plan to raise the pump price of petrol.
He appealed to marketers not to sell petrol above the price approved by the government.
He noted that the NNPC would carry out necessary sanctions allowed by law on any defaulting depot owner in order for Nigerians to buy the product at the approved price.
He, however, apologized to Nigerians for the pains experienced at fuel stations and appealed to consumers to buy only the quantity they needed at fuel stations.
