EXCLUSIVE: Fuel Scarcity Looms As NMDPRA Shutdown Seven Tank Farms In Lagos

By Roland Ekama

NigeriaMidstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) has suspended operations of seven tank farms  within Satellite Town in Lagos.

 

The facilities were shutdown on Monday ,4th July 2022 but the regulatory agency allowed the trucks on ground at the facilities load products up until Tuesday before sealing up the tank farms completely.

 

DAILY FOCUS NIGERIA gathered that the closure of  the facilities was based on the fact that operators were selling Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) above the ex depot price  making the final consumer to buy above N165 per litre.

 

Ex depot price refers to cost of petroleum products been sold in the depot.

 

 

Some of the depots affected in the closure include: Aipec, Menj, A.A Rano, Rain Oil, Stallioniare, Wosbab,  Lado Oil all situated at the Satellite Town, under Oriade Local Council Area of Lagos State.

 

According to sources the closure will lead to scarcity and fuel shortage in  the country.

 

 

“NMDPRA suspended some depots from loading  PMS as depot are selling above the ex depot price  making the final consumer to buy above N165, one of the sources re-echoed to our correspondent on Tuesday in Lagos.

 

 

Recall that oil marketers on Sunday gave the Federal Government conditions that should be met in order to retain the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at N165/litre.

 

According to them, the cost of the commodity must be sold at the approved ex-depot price at various depots, whether private or government-owned, as this would enable filling stations to dispense the product at the regulated N165/litre rate.

 

They said private depots were dispensing the commodity at higher rates than what was approved by the Federal Government despite the many challenges in the downstream oil sector.

 

They made this known to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja, a development that made the agency to ask the marketers to report depots that were selling PMS above the approved price.

 

The approved ex-depot price of petrol is about N148/litre, but retailers say private depot owners sell the commodity above N160/litre.

 

The General Manager, Corporate Communications Department, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo, said in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday that executives of the South-West Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to the authority where they made their demands known.

 

In the statement, the Zonal Chairman, IPMAN South-West, Dele Lamidi, said the purpose of the visit was to seek collaboration and support the authority in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021