Petrol scarcity: NUPENG urges NNPC to create same template for marketers

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Monday urged NNPC to create same template for major and independent oil marketers to end the recurring scarcity.

Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, South-West Chairman of the union, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos this was imperative because the marketers got products from different depots.

The chairman said while the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) members imported petroleum products, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) members got from NNPC depots.

Korodo said that Petroleum and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) under NNPC usually pumped petrol into major marketers’ depots while IPMAN members did not have such an opportunity.

He said that IPMAN members’ challenges started when NNPC shut down IPMAN depots, prompting IPMAN members to load from private depots.

Korodo stressed that private depots template was different from the approved template from NNPC ex-depot price.

“At private depots in Apapa, Lagos, the ex-depot price of a litre of petrol is between N95 and N100.

“Independent marketers from the east and northern parts don’t struggle to buy products because they know they can sell the product at any price in their states.

“This is because they have few major marketers in their states, but in Lagos the case is different.

“It is only when NNPC pumps products to their depots that independent marketers who are lucky to get can sell at the official pump price,” he said.

The chairman said the ex-depot price of N77 now applied to major marketers and NNPC depots, adding that at the private depots the price was different.

“We are appealing to NNPC to create similar template for major and independent marketers because that is the only solution to this scarcity of petrol.

“When you look around, you will see that major marketers are not many whereas independent oil marketers cut across the country.

“If independent marketers get petrol the way major marketers get, the better for the country.

“IPMAN members move from one depot to another looking for petrol and when they get it, they add other expenses such as transportation hence the price is high.

“This is why they are selling more than the approved pump price,” he said.