Fuel scarcity worsens as NNPC fails on demand promises

Almost a month after the scarcity of premium motor spirit threw the country into an energy crisis, indications emerged, yesterday, that the situation may go from bad to worse, as prices at the pump rose to over N300 per litre in some filling stations across the country, especially those owned by independent marketers.

Although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had said in Abuja that 2.3 billion litres of additional premium motor spirit were being imported into the country to complement existing one billion litres as part of measures to address fuel scarcity, sources gathered, yesterday, that most marketers, especially depot owners who had made payment for products since December last year, were yet to receive the consignment.

While the queues appeared to have abated last week, the situation became worse from Friday, as many petrol stations remained shut, while those that opened and sold at the official price, had long queues of motorists waiting to buy the product.

In Lagos, most of the stations owned by independent marketers that were without queues sold the product for between N200 and N250 a litre.