The fuel scarcity situation experienced in most Nigerian cities would not be ending anytime soon.
Billy Gillis-Harry, President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), said this in an interview with ChannelsTV on Thursday, November 10.
Gillis-Harry blamed the fuel scarcity crisis on Nigeria’s inability to fix her refineries and the floods experienced in most parts of the country.
“The reality is that until we have our local refining capacity improved, efficient and inconsistent production, we are not going to be able to say this is when this is going to end,” he said.
“As far as Lagos is concerned, if there is a scarcity or price issue in Lagos it is simply based on the fact that there are no products in the depots, that’s the reality.”
The PETROAN boss blamed the varying prices charged by filling stations across the country on the exchange rates.
“Let me explain this to all of us, petroleum product pricing is supposed to be dynamic in the sense that if we bought from (Pipelines and Products Marketing Company Limited) PPMC depots at PPMC price, everybody is expected to sell in their retail outlets at N165.
“But if we had to buy from other depots who had bought from the PPMC and had to ship it and go through the necessary protocols of delivering it to the depots from where we have to take it, the price will be higher because the cost is dollarised, everything about petroleum products is dollarized that is just what is happening.”
