With petrol queues resurfacing in some parts of Nigeria, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, yesterday, confirmed the existence of commercial stocks nationwide.
Chief Executive Officer, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, who disclosed this, also appealed to Nigerians not to engage in panic-buying of the product.
The NMDPRA boss said he was optimistic that the queues would be eliminated in the coming days as the marketers and NNPC have confirmed the existence of adequate stocks.
He said: “I spoke with the MOMAN’S Executive Secretary this morning and he told me they have sufficient stock. I have directed them to start evacuating the product immediately to filling stations.
“NNPC has also confirmed sufficiency and they have commenced evacuation. From now till tomorrow, the situation will be back to normal. I don’t know what is happening but we are on top of the situation.”
Similarly, in an interview, the chairman of MOMAN, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, said there is sufficient stock of the product to meet domestic demand.
Providing an insight into the current situation; he said there is a slow-down in the delivery going to Apapa jetty in Lagos, thus causing many persons to engage in panic buying.
Since then, he said some vessels have discharged the product to the jetty while others are expected to deliver soon.
He said: “The current scarcity witnessed in Lagos and some parts of the country is just a function of a slight ‘sporadic supply’.
We had always said if there is no consistent back-to-back supply into Apapa jetty it will eventually show up in queues at the stations. What happened was that there was a slowdown in the delivery going to Apapa jetty and the net effect of what we see now is people engaging in panic buying.
“This is because there are just enough products. Cargo came in at the weekend and another is coming in tomorrow, so there shouldn’t be any problem with supply. However, there are some other upstream issues but we have enough stock to meet the market. The message to Nigerians is not to engage in panic buying.”
