DPR blames product scarcity in Benue on depots

The Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has blamed the scarcity of petroleum products in Benue on the refusal of depots in the state to sell products at N77.7 per liter to marketers.

The DPR Head, Downstream Operation in the state, Mr Bima Abdulrahman, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi on Friday.

Abdulrahman told NAN that officials of the NNPC depots still sold the product at prices above N97 per litre.

He said the officials operate two accounts, one account for marketers who insist on the recommended depot price of N77.7 per litre and another for those willing to pay above N87 per litre.

Abdulrahman accused the depots of sabotaging the efforts of the government in providing petroleum products to the masses at the regulated pump price of N87 per liter.

He explained that “no marketer will buy the product at a price above N97 and sell below that’’.

According to him, if nothing is done immediately to address the situation, it may get worse over the weeks.

He, however, assured that all petrol service stations in the state that had products would be compelled to sell at the regulated pump price.

NAN reports that long queues had resurfaced in most service stations in Makurdi and other major towns across the state with the product selling for N150 in the parallel market.