Economy threatened as oil marketers stop importation

The economy is threatened as the major oil marketing companies have made good their threat to stop importation of petrol due to alleged inability of the Federal Government to meet subsidy obligations of over N356.2 billion.

Against this backdrop, long queues of vehicles have resurfaced at filling stations in Lagos and environs.

This is an indication that economic activities in cities across the country will soon ground to a halt within the next few days on account of shortage of petrol in the country.

Because of the long queues developing at the filling stations, traffic on roads are being disturbed as motorists that want to buy fuel have blocked the roads thereby causing gridlock.

The situation, according to some operators, is likely to get worse today as the tanks of most of the major oil companies are gradually drying up.

The country’s subsidy on a litre of fuel has increased from the N15.82k it recorded in February to N41.96 per litre, according to the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

With this latest development, subsidy burden on the government have increased from N632.8 million to over N1.6 billion as the nation consumes about 40 million litres per day.

Obafemi Olawore, the executive secretary of MOMAN, told BusinessDay on Tuesday that the marketers are not going back on their position because the government has not made any effort to reach out to them.

He insisted that they are not going to import any petrol to the country until they are paid their money.

He said fuel marketers have not been able to order for new stocks due to the non-payment of accumulated subsidy of over N356.2 billion.

He had warned earlier that members of both MOMAN and DAPPMA had just three and a half days left for stock to be depleted. This timing, according to him, was expected to lapse by midnight last Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has allayed fears of fuel scarcity, saying there would be enough fuel to go round as it intensifies efforts to end queues at the filling stations.

The NNPC reiterated that it has enough stock of petrol to service the country for 27 days at a national consumption rate of 40 million litres per day even as it has stepped up efforts to end the distribution challenges in the fuel supply system.

The corporation blamed the current distribution hitches on the strike by National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD).

The corporation which stated this in a statement made available to journalists said it has sufficient stock of petrol at its coastal depots in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Calabar besides the stock it holds in the national strategic reserves.

OLUSOLA BELLO