NNPC gives update on fuel scarcity, price hike

The Group Managing Director and CEO of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Malam Mele Kyari, has said there is 1.7 billion litres of petrol to ease the scarcity of the product while dismissing plans to increase the pump price.

Kyari stated this after a meeting with members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Abuja.

He said, “I want to assure Nigerians that we have an adequate supply of petrol, currently we have 1.7 billion litres of petrol both marine and on land. This also means that we have the capacity to load out extensively from all depots.

“We are currently running a 24-hour loading from all our depots and we believe this will close the gap created by panic buying.”

Kyari, who dismissed plans to increase the pump price of petrol above N165 per litre, said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) will sanction defaulting marketers.

“Also, I want to emphasise that neither the government nor NNPC has any plan to adjust the pump prices of petroleum products. Therefore, I call on marketers to ensure they sell petroleum products at the depot price or at the fuel stations at the prices approved by NMDPRA,” said Kyari.

“We have engaged depot operators to load the product round the clock to accelerate the restoration of normal distribution.”