According to the Federal Government, Nigeria has more than 1.6 billion litres of petroleum available to fulfil demand and everyday usage.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NMDPRA Corporation Communications section issued a statement on Friday, January 27, 2023 announcing this on behalf of the Federal Government, blaming cross-border traffickers for the ongoing national fuel scarcity.
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“The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA wishes to reassure all Nigerians that there is a PMS sufficiency of over 1.6 billion litres as of 26th January 2023, both on land and marine.
“The current distribution hitch is heightened by activities of cross-border smugglers, who divert PMS meant for the Nigerian market to neighboring countries where PMS prices are significantly higher than Nigeria’s regulated price. We are engaging and collaborating with Nigeria Customs Services to address this issue”, the statement contained.
The Commission said that it will make small modifications to the cost of product transportation to account for the impact of high AGO prices on transporters while providing special diesel allowances to marketers at a discounted rate in order to address the persistent fuel shortage.
It continued that it would make sure that the automation of the product sales interface, the installation of a monitoring system in cooperation with government security agencies for distribution to retail outlets, the extension of operating hours at the loading and depots and some chosen filling stations, the rehabilitation of the crucial fuel distribution road network through the federal government’s tax credit programme by the NNPCL, regular stakeholder engagement, among other things, were all ensured.
