As part of efforts to cushion the effect of deregulation and to stem the tide of scarcity which is ravaging the country, the federal government is set to grant approval to more oil marketers to construct more tank farms.
The approval is to allow more marketers to build depots and storage facilities which will enable them import products, especially premium motor spirit into the country so as to ensure there are far above the quantity needed to guarantee adequate fuel supply always.
Unofficial sources at the department of petroleum resources (DPR told Shipping Position Weekly) last week that government is making sure that it leaves no stone unturned in order to ensure that the scarcity which is currently being experienced in some parts of the country does not occur again.
According to the source who spoke with our correspondent under anonymity, government is trying to curtail the dominance of independent marketers who always want to take advantage of scarcity to gain more profit even after collecting the subsidies.
He maintained that this is the reason why federal government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has decided to partner with major marketers whom it can control.
“The DPR, PPRA and other regulatory agencies will be meeting soon to ensure additional licenses for major marketers to have more supplies of products, though the supply of fuel is current but some filling stations are complaining of shortages and the department is set to look into that”
Also, he confirmed to our correspondent that the DPR has been directed to close down any filling station found to be sabotaging the efforts of government by hoarding products and refusing to sell at the approved pump price.
A visit to tank farms in Apapa, Lagos by Shipping Position Weekly revealed that the accredited tank farms for loading fuel are all working at optimum level and petrol tankers are coming from all over the country to load products from Apapa due to the little technical hitch experienced at Mosimi depot last week.
A petrol marketer Mr. Olanife Adeoye told our correspondent that “fuel is available at the depots, but the causes for the long queue is because filling stations are deliberately hoarding the product and selling only in the night at high price, they are the cause of the scarcity in Lagos” he said.
He disclosed that while some independent marketers sell PMS at the rate of N67 per liter, the price of the PMS (fuel) from the tank farms still stands at between N58 per liter to N62 per liter.
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