Following alleged lack of supply from depot owners, many independent oil marketers, on Monday, closed outlets in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
Mike Osatuyi, the National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, who confirmed the development, said: “Many of our members do not have the product to sell because the depot owners prefer to give priority to their outlets.
”They have shut their filling stations because there is no product. Also, some of them source it at higher prices, ranging between N165 and N175 per litre.”
However, the Kirikiri Depot Owners Association has denied hiking the ex-depot price of petrol.
The ex-depot price is the price which marketers buy products at the depot, and determines how much they sell to motorists
In a statement yesterday, the Secretary, Kirikiri Depot Owners Association, Simeon Anabor, stated that the ex-depot price of petrol was regulated.
He stated: “Our association doesn’t operate across Lagos. As it is, the price is still being controlled by the regulatory agency. Definitely, the depots that have products in Kirikiri are still selling within the approved ex-depot price.
“Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. was making efforts to bring in more vessels into the country. In my personal observation, the long queues are reducing at the filling stations and I know within one week or thereabout, though subject to other factors, that the queues will be cleared.
“You have to go through the processes of obtaining Proforma Invoice from Petroleum Products Marketing Company Ltd. or NNPC. Then you still have to raise funds from the banks, and these are the challenges making some depots not to have products.”
