Petrol stations closed because of scarcity in Jonathan state

When the current long queues resurfaced in filling
stations in the predominantly riverine Bayelsa State
two weeks ago, many did not believe it would
persist this long due to the government call on
residents not to embark on panic buying as
everything was being done to address the scarcity.
However, the situation in the state has deteriorated
to the extent that most car owners have since
abandoned their vehicles at home due to the stress
involved in the procurement of the product.
A locked Filling station
Also, the fuel scarcity in town is further
compounded by the epileptic electricity supply to
most part of the capital city with the result that
residents are made to struggle for the product with
car owners to power their generating sets.

Virtually all the filling stations in the state have
since closed shop due to the non availability of the
product while the few stations dispensing fuel are
characterized by long queues.
Jerry cans of different sizes from black marketers
now donned the nooks and crannies of the state
capital on account of what sources blamed on
shortfall in supply to the state by the Department
of Petroleum Resources, Port- Harcourt.
Some black marketers who spoke to Saturday
Vanguard on condition of anonymity said they got
their supply from filling stations in Yenagoa many
of which are under lock and key.
According to them, they bought a litre at N130
and sold same between N250 and N300 at the
black market.
The cost, they argued is determined by the
bargaining skill or desperation of buyers.
Interestingly, these fuel hawkers are clustered in
front of the shut down filling stations where
desperate motorists sought after them to purchase
fuel.
Our correspondent, who went around Yenagoa and
its environs, observed that only the NNPC mega
filling station along the Sani Abacha expressway
was dispensing fuel at the official N97 pump price.
The other few retail outlets were selling between
N130 and N150 but with their pumps adjusted and
under dispensing to unsuspecting motorists.
Saturday Vanguard check further revealed that
most motorists now leave their homes early as
4.30am to queue up for fuel at the NNPC mega
filling station selling at the official N97 per litre.
Sometimes the queue at the filling station span the
entire length of the expressway to the Amarata end.
Ironically, transport fare within the state capital had
remained stable in spite of the high cost of the
product in the black market. It is however left to be
seen how long this would last if the scarcity
persist.
But the worst hit by the biting scarcity is maritime
sector where water crafts consumed more fuel than
vehicles plying the roads.
The high cost of fuel, it was learnt, is already
having its toll on the operators many of whom
cannot procure the product in the hinterland due to
the biting scarcity. The number of boats sailing to
the hinterland from the Yenagoa jetties were few
Wednesday due to the lingering scarcity and the
high cost of purchasing same from the black
market operators.
Calabar: Scarcity persists , as Nigerian Navy
Impounds ship with 15,000 tones of PMS
CALABAR- THE Fuel scarcity which started in
Cross River State in the last week of February is
persisting and is biting even harder as few filling
stations are dispensing the product to motorists.
Calabar, the state capital is the most hit as the
product is only available in the black market where
young men move around selling the product at
very exorbitant rates. A litre sells for between
N250 and N300 and much of it is adulterated with
kerosene which is available and still sells for N120
a litre.
Some motorists do take trips outside Calabar to
buy fuel for their cars in places like Odukpani,
Akamkpa amd Ugep about fifty kilometers away. A
trip outside Calabar shows that beginning from
Odukpani local government area which adjoins to
Ogoja which is some 400 kilometres away, some
filling stations still dispense fuel to motorists but
at prices ranging from N130 to N200 per litre.
The scarcity has led to long queues at bus stops
while the cost of transportation and other services
have gone up. For instance, taxi fares that used to
be N50 and N100 for short distances within the
city have increased to N100 and N200 respectively
for the same distances.
Also, prices for services like internet, barbing,
hairdressing, laundry and computer services have
tripled. Internet services that used to be N200 per
hour is now N400 while barbing of hair that used
to cost N300 in a standard barber’s salon now
cost N500.
On why the scarcity persists, a source at the
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,
attributes it to lack of delivery of the product to its
depot in Calabar occasioned by delays in the
signing of documents for the importation of the
product into the country.
“Our refineries are not functioning, so the
petroleum products we use in this country are
imported and this quarter, the authorities are yet to
sign documents for importation of the product. It
will take about a month before the situation will
stabilize because the documentation and
importation has to go through some processes
before bringing in the product”.
Mr Michael Udo, the Chairman of Independent
Petroleum Marketers, IPMAN said the filling
stations are shut because there are no products in
the stations; it is only when we have products that
we can sell”.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy Ship Victory ,NNS
Victory in Calabar which impounded a giant sea
vessel, M.T. Diddi suspected to be involved with
irregularities in the process of moving 15,000 tons
of Premium Motor Spirit , PMS, has ordered the
product to be discharged into the jetty for onward
sale to marketers to reduce the scarcity.
Owners of M.T. Diddi vessel, Sea Transport
Services Nigeria limited, however, insist the vessel
was on a normal transportation of petroleum
product to Dozzy oil and Gas in Calabar and it has
nothing to do with bunkering or illegal transaction.
They argued that the vessel which had carried
legal activities within Lome, Lagos and the West
African cost had received a discharge order from
Dozzy oil and Gas to discharge PMS to Dozzy from
offshore Lome in Togo.