Scarcity of premium motor spirit, widely known as petrol, has worsened at retail outlets across the country, with pump price spiralling arbitrarily and vehicles forming long queues at filling stations where the product is available.

Petrol marketers, especially those in the independent group, have persistently complained of acute  difficulty in getting the product.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCLtd) is the sole importer of petroleum into the country, supplying to marketers through their respective depots across the country.

The NNPCLtd ex-depot price is currently put at N160 per litre. However, independent marketers say that figure is a facade as they now buy the product at nothing less than N220 per litre at depots, that is if it is even available.

They add that increasing operational logistics cost was impacting their business negatively and affecting price determination.

Independent marketers had since last year declared they would not be able to match the pump price of major marketers because of operational logistics. So while retail NNPCLtd filling stations and other major marketers like Total sell at N169-N179 per litre in Lagos and N174-N180 in Abuja, independent marketers have been selling at prices ranging from N250 per litre to N500, depending on the state.

Unlike before when independent marketers masked pump prices, they now openly display such prices, suggesting a complete breakdown of government price control, regulation and enforcement. Consumers complain that even at that, some marketers still manipulate their pumps to defraud buyers, dispensing petrol quantity that falls a lot short of the figures displayed on their pumps.

Mele Kyari, the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCLtd, which maintains that the company always imports adequate volume of petroleum for consumption nationwide, accused marketers of taking the product to areas in the country where they can sell at higher price margins.

Checks yesterday in the Maraba axis of Nasarawa State showed a variation of prices in different petroleum retail outlets. Our correspondent’s observation at the NIPCO filling station on Abacha road in Maraba-Nasarawa showed the fuel selling at N195 per litre.

Some stations were seen barriers closed and not dispensing.

In Awka, the capital of Anambra State, The ICIR found some independent petroleum outlets selling at N250 and N310 per litre respectively, while it was N380 per litre in Owerri the Imo State capital.

In Enugu, petrol sells as high as N400 in some retail outlets.

In Lagos, independent marketers are selling between N250 and N300 per litre.

President of the Petroleum Retail Owners and Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, told The ICIR that logistics of supply chain from the NNPCLtd was still inefficient.

“Remember last year when we said that there was a supply glitch, there was a counter by the NNPCLtd that there was enough product that can last for 180 days. We said if there is product, bring it to where we can buy and take to our station since we are the last man in the distribution chain.

“We are still at the process whereby the supply side needs to be efficiently handled. If the NNPCLtd insists there is enough product, then the supply side needs to be improved.

“There are 39,000 independent petroleum retail stations across the country and about 300 NNPCLtd retail outlets. You can see the gap and the insufficiency to address the supply needs of Nigerians,” Gillis-Harry said.

He stressed the need of PETROAN getting enough product to address supply gaps.

According to him, “Some of our members are purchasing PMS at over N200 per litre and they have to sell to be in business. In Port-Harcourt, some sell as high as N500. These people also have to sell as they buy in order to be in business.”

On the impact of subsidy on the issue, he said, “A subsidy that does not impact on the people makes subsidy become something that we have to do away with.”

Already, marketers have warned that supply hitches associated with the distribution of petrol may persist till June this year.

This is despite the N3.6 trillion budget for subsidy in the first half of the year.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ukadike Chinedu, lamented that fuel imports and subsidy were making Nigerians suffer.

Chinedu said, “This issue of subsidy and the importation of petroleum products are the major reasons why we are suffering like this and having epileptic supply of PMS. This may drag till the current administration leaves in May, or till June this year.

“The exchange rate is affecting fuel imports, which is also why the cost of petroleum products is high. We use too much naira to chase the few dollars that are available. So the solution is for us to refine our crude here and get our depots working.”

He added, “Also, we should note that most times when an administration is leaving, there is usually scarcity of products. It happened during the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“This is because suppliers will be wary of selling petroleum products so that their debts will not be carried over to the next administration. Successive governments have suffered this epileptic distribution of petroleum products during transition to a new government.

“The government is winding up, and if you are a supplier you have to be careful in terms of supplying petroleum products. Remember that when Jonathan was there, marketers who were supplying products stopped and went on strike, demanding that they must be paid their arrears.”

A former president, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Sam Nzekwe, said the crisis in the downstream oil sector would be best addressed when Nigeria’s refineries become functional.

The IPMAN National Operations Controller, Mike Osatuyi, said his members were yet to get any product from the NNPCLtd this year and had been buying from other sources.

“We are still waiting. We will wait until the middle of this month before we react. But as of last week, our members buy fuel above N200 per litre. But information reaching me is that as of today, the price has increased to N230 per litre, without transportation and other expenses”, Osatuyi said.