Fuel scarcity: Nigeria now has 1.9bn litres of petrol —Minister

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, on Wednesday, said Nigeria now has 1.9 billion litres of petrol in stock, capable of lasting the country for 32 days.

He made this known in Abuja while updating the Federal Executive Council in a session presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The Minister was accompanied to the FEC session by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr Mele Kyari.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, told newsmen at the end of the session that NNPC had embarked on 24-hour loading of petrol to ameliorate the long queues at fuel stations.

The minister informed the Council that there is enough stock – in reference to about 1.9 billion litres to last for 32 days.

“There’s a 24-hour loading that is going on at all depots working with the Directorate of State Service and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria to ensure that the situation improves significantly,’’ Akande said.

Some reports have it that fuel queues have reduced in Abuja, Kaduna and some other cities in the last 48 hours, linked to the fact that a good number of fuel stations have started operating 24-hour services.

It was earlier reported how black markets arising from fuel scarcity had caused hardships for Nigerians, ranging from high transportation fare to spending a lot of time on queues at petrol stations.