The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said that queues will disappear from filling stations across the country in a few days when marketers complete the recalibration of their metres.
The Executive Vice President of Downstream, Adedapo Segun made the disclosure on Thursday during an interview monitored by NewsNGR.
The revelation comes after the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria said they would cooperate with the state-owned company and Dangote Refinery to reduce the fuel queues.
The EVP said that NNPC is ensuring that deliveries are made to thousands of filling stations in the country.
According to him, a directive has been issued to marketers to operate for longer hours.
Segun explained, “We have a thousand stations around the country, but that’s not enough. We’re working with all of the marketers, engaging with them to ensure that our stations open early and close late, and make sure that there’s enough fuel in all of the stations.
“So, we are ensuring that deliveries are made to stations. We are doing our best to ensure that there are no diversions. When you have price change situation, typically it takes a few days for all of the stations to recalibrate their meters.
“So, that’s basically the situation we are in now. I expect that this will fizzle out within the next few days, as more stations calibrate and begin to sell.”
Pump price of PMS was reviewed by the NNPC Ltd to about N897 per litre.
On the immediate hike in fuel prices, NNPC said the decision is also based on fluctuations in global oil prices.
He explained that Nigeria is not at full market pricing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), adding that the prices of petrol in other countries are far expensive than Nigeria.
Segun said, “If you look at section 205 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and that’s the Act that gave birth to NNPC Limited, it tells you that petroleum prices or fuel prices were based on unrestricted free market conditions.
“When you have a situation where fuel prices remain the same, that’s what’s unusual. You won’t see that in other claims where you have prices fixed for a long period. It’s supposed to move in consonant with changes in market conditions,” the EVP said.
The NNPC Ltd had disclosed that it owes its suppliers around $6.5bn and can no longer bear the burden of closing the shortfalls in the landing cost of PMS.
The EVP Downstream also addressing the issues said the company has a good relationship with its suppliers and they are willing to sell to the NNPC.
He said, “We do have a challenge with payments and that’s largely because there’s some effects, illiquidity, as it’s obvious, and that really is the challenge. As much as we are able to, we are making payments to them.
“We’re doing all we can to make sure that we retain the confidence of our suppliers and I can assure you that our suppliers have confidence in our ability to pay.
“NNPC has never defaulted in making its payments and that’s why our suppliers continue to back us up. The good thing also is that we have Dangote Refinery coming up with production as it’s been announced and that would also provide a source of supply into the country.”