By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The biting fuel scarcity ravaging Lagos, Abuja, and some parts of the country received an official response last night with the petroleum regulatory authorities informing them that they have withdrawn adulterated fuel from the supply.
Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) informed that a limited quantity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification, was reportedly discovered in the supply chain.
Long fuel queues have baa ravaging motorists and commuters in Lagos and pockets of other places but NMDPRA yesterday said to ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit.
The authorities, in a statement in Abuja, described Methanol as a regular additive in petrol, which is usually blended in an acceptable quantity.
NMDPRA, the governmental agency which replaced the defunct Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA), said in the statement that the source supplier of the dirty fuel had been identified and that further commercial and appropriate actions would be taken by it and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd.
It assured that its technical team, in conjunction with NNPC and other industry stakeholders, would continue to monitor and ensure that quality petroleum products were supplied and distributed nationwide.
“NNPC Ltd and all Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have been directed to sustain sufficient distribution of petrol in all retail outlets nationwide.
“Meanwhile, NNPC has intensified efforts at increasing the supply of Petrol into the market to bridge any unforeseen supply gap,” NMDPRA said.
The problem
Amid biting fuel scarcity which has sustained fuel queues in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and NNPC had earlier yesterday explained the reasons for the crippling fuel shortage.
Fuel queues surfaced on Sunday in the Island axis of Lagos and earlier in Abuja, but by Monday, the situation festered as some petrol stations in the state had no supply, while those with supply attracted long queues which caused traffic gridlocks.
Apart from the traffic gridlocks on Lagos Island, which left commuters trapped in hectic traffic, the situation too was the same on the mainland.
Many filling stations refused to attend to customers that besieged their entrances.
The NNPC provided an immediate suggestion to the cause of the scarcity, attributing the trend to the withdrawal of ‘wrong specification of petrol from circulation’.
According to NNPC, the ‘wrong specification’ could lead to contaminated or adulterated petroleum that is harmful to vehicles.
Petrol marketers had complained that the adulterated fuel has a high content of methanol and ethanol, “which are outside the official specification of Nigeria’s petrol”.
Meanwhile, there have been complaints from some motorists on the quality of fuel they filled their vehicle tanks with lately.
A video that went viral on social media showed a petrol attendant complaining about adulterated petrol supplied to his station in Lagos.
As a strategy to contain the harmful implications of the adulterated petrol in circulation, the NNPC yesterday said it is doing ‘product tracing’ to recall the product from circulation.
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NNPC said it has been compelled to take the measure as fuel scarcity is biting hard on Lagos and Abuja motorists.
As a follow-up, petrol marketers have expressed fear that the fuel scarcity could persist in Lagos and other parts of the country “until depots are restocked with adequate and quality products”.
A marketer told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN): “As we speak, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd is working to ensure that this disruption to the supply chain is addressed as soon as possible.
“However, there is the challenge of logistics and how to compensate those who were supplied with the adulterated products.
“The NNPC is working with marketers on this, and once the depots are restocked, tankers will start loading and supply will improve across the country.
The marketer said until this is achieved, queues will remain at the petrol stations because of the panic already created.
Warning against panic buying
Meanwhile, the Vice-President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, yesterday said petroleum products will be available from today.
Maigandi, who made the warning while speaking as a guest on Newsday, a news programme on Arise TV, cautioned motorists against panic buying.
He said, “The government and the NNPC is on it. There is no way we can sell those contaminated because it will affect motorists. But car owners should stop panic-buying. By God’s grace, today or tomorrow, the product will be available nationwide.”
