The perennial fuel crisis which has blighted the year worsened across the country, weekend, as hundreds of motorists slept in petrol stations with the intention of purchasing the products.
This was even as the Federal Government, yesterday, directed the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA , to commence a special supply intervention measures to bring an end to the perennial fuel scarcity witnessed across the country.
Vanguard reported that this intervention, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, is to ensure a country-wide availability of petroleum products ahead of the forthcoming yuletide and beyond.
To this end, the NNPC, in a statement in Abuja, noted that the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company resumed operation over the weekend while the intervention was kick-started with the ramping up of additional supply via massive truck-out to guarantee product penetration to the nooks and crannies of the country.
According to the NNPC, daily fuel truck out to locations such as Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Ibadan and Jos has been increased significantly to enhance free flow of products across the country.
The NNPC stated that it was consolidating its strategic alliance with some major depot owners and oil marketers with strong regional logistics outlay in those areas to ensure maximum infiltration of products especially in the hinterland ahead of the forthcoming Christmas and New Year festivities.
While calling on members of the public to refrain from hoarding, product diversion and panic buying of petrol, the NNPC noted that the intervention measure would help circumvent the challenges posed by the unavailability of pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products.
It warned that product diversion is an economic crime and stated that it would not hesitate to report offenders to the security agencies for prosecution.
Despite the claims by the NNPC, the scarcity increased in intensity, Wednesday, few days after the Federal Government announced that it had paid oil marketers their outstanding subsidy claims, and it showed no sign of abating.
Posted by Janice Johnson
