For almost four months on now, Nigerians have continued to groan amidst unending queues for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol, as popularly known) at filling stations.
The long queues started appearing at the filling stations across the country in September, forcing the price of the petroleum products to jump from N180/litre to between N205 and N210 per litre among the filling stations owned by the independent marketers, while some major marketers were selling PMS between N180 and N185/litre at that time.
However, the crisis has taken a leap, forcing prices to skyrocket to as much as N280 per litre in some locations. As it is with many Nigerians who easily adjust to changing realities, the prices are becoming normal, in turn affecting the prices of other commodities.
Some were of the opinion that as long as the product is available, they are prepared to bear extra cost rather than waste their precious time queuing for fuel that they may still not get to buy at the filling stations across the country at the end of the day.
While people have taken it in their stride to get used to buying the petroleum product at these varying prices, Nigerians don’t deserve to get acquainted with hardship. The populace deserve a petroleum regime that makes access to purchase petroleum products cheap and accessible.
However, it is expected that when subsidy is removed, PMS could sell for as much as N600 per litre.
Pending the removal of fuel subsidy, it is expedient that the NNPCL and the petroleum marketers collaborate to end this crisis.
Working with yourself is always the most difficult collaboration, Jomny Sun said in his article “Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too”.
The NNPCL must realize that increased collaboration with marketers is a way to move past this crisis.
At the heart of the current fuel crisis is the problem of logistics, subsidy and forex crisis, all contributing to the non availability of the product in major oil depots.
The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) had earlier said it is working with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., to improve the distribution of petrol across the country.
Mr Clement Isong, Chief Executive Officer of MOMAN, said this in an interview that the association had been holding a daily logistic emergency meeting with the downstream management of NNPCL on how to improve the supply of the product.
According to him, “We are doing depot to depot check-in and check-out to enhance efficiency, also having logistic supply meetings with NNPCL.
“There is also collaboration among our members to cushion supply to various MOMAN’s stations.
“We arranged it in a way that any MOMAN member who does not have product can pick from fellow members’ depot to minimise supply gaps,” he said.
However, the oil marketers and petroleum depot operators, under the aegis of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), called for quick intervention of the Federal Government.
Its Chairman, Mrs Winifred Akpani, urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to comply with the Federal Government’s directive to end payment of port charges in dollars for petroleum products brought into the country.
Akpani maintained that accessing forex through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) window would enhance their capacity, facilitate seamless supply of petrol, and birth a regime of sustainability in terms of storage, distribution and supply across the nation.
“DAPPMAN hereby calls on the government to establish a level playing field in the sector by giving petroleum marketers access to forex at the CBN exchange rate for their operations,” said Akpani.
The difference between the CBN exchange rate and the parallel market exchange rate continues to get wider by the day. Accessing dollars for the operations of marketers been an insurmountable hurdle for petroleum marketers.
The NNPCL as the nation’s regulator must move further to intensify inter-agency talks to mitigate the challenges being faced by marketers.
As much as these measures may not totally prevent the problems from reoccurring, they provide substantial protection against the impact of major and sudden supply disruptions.