Why NNPC stopped Pumping Fuel to Depots

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC in a bid to avoid several losses due to militant attacks on oil pipelines has stopped pumping fuel to its depots using the pipeline network.

According to The Punch, the NNPC has began selling the petrol in bulk to oil marketers instead of pumping it to depots where it is distributed to dealers.

Several oil marketers, who spoke to Punch, said that the militancy was having adverse effects on the petroleum sector and might even cause scarcity of fuel in some places within Nigeria.

An executive member of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN),Dibu Aderigbigbe said its members are having a hard time finding the product due to the non-availability of the product at NNPC depots.

“We are not being supplied products. There is no product in any NNPC depot for they are afraid of pumping petrol because of issues of vandalism. They don’t want to waste the product, because they know they have gone commercial and are aware that they can’t report any loss to the government.”

Speaking on the reports that some IPMAN members were owing the NNPC, Aderigbigbe said, “Some of our people have paid the difference, but there are no products in the depots. For instance, the Ibadan and Mosimi depots are empty, despite the fact that marketers have paid the difference for products in those depots.”

“The excuse they (NNPC) give is that they don’t have products. But we know that they store their products in marine tanks and now sell to people who are ready to buy in bulk.”

An undisclosed oil marketer was quoted to have said, “Many independent marketers are being denied product by the NNPC and this is not healthy in that it may cause fuel scarcity in selected locations. We know that the corporation has stopped pumping to some depots and the reason for this is understandable, but their refusal to supply to other marketers is not in the interest of consumers.”