Following the shutdown of system 2b, a major pipeline that evacuates between nine to 11million litres of fuel from Lagos to Ibadan, Ilorin and the north, due to serious vandalism by oil thieves a few weeks ago, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)? says it has resorted to product distribution with tankers.
This, the Corporation’s acting spokesman, Fidel Pepple, in a statement yesterday said, was aimed at alleviating the problems resulting from the shutdown of the pipeline with a view to end the current fuel scarcity being witnessed in Lagos and other parts of the country.
?“I want to assure Nigerians that NNPC has stepped up fuel supply to marketers and distributors for effective and efficient supply of fuel to Nigerians. As I speak, we have raised the daily supply of fuel from Folawiyo tank farm from 150 tankers to 250 tankers, MRS from 100 to 200 tankers, Capital Oil to 300 tankers, NIPCO to 70 tankers and AITEO to 100 tankers,” Mr. Pepple disclosed.
On the Arepo pipeline where three NNPC staff were killed by vandals recently, Pepple stated that the NNPC was collaborating with the security agencies to fix the pipeline in order to restore normal fuel supply to the affected areas.
However, black marketers have taken over fuel vending in Kaduna as acute fuel scarcity hits the metropolis. Our correspondent who monitored the situation reported that the price of the product has been hiked to N200 a litre as against the official selling price of N97 per litre, even as transport fares in the State have also been hiked to about 70 per cent.
One of the major marketers who pleaded anonymity said: What we get is what we sell, when the NNPC makes the product available we sell, but when it is not available we simply close our station and wait.’’
The situation is not any better in Lagos where the product now sells for N200 a litre in stations where it is available. Our correspondent reports that some major streets in Lagos have become sales points for black marketers who sell the product at exorbitant price.? This is as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu, has reiterated his commitment to developing the nation’s gas resources as tools for economic transformation.