By Tina Amanda
Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Rivers State, Dr Joseph Obele, says there are no petroleum products in the nineteen (19) Depot in the state, which contradicts NNPC assurance of stock availability.
Dr. Obele stated this to our Correspondent while reacting to the statement made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited that the country has adequate stock of petrol to last for 30 days.
He described the stock availability as a statement in a press conference which is not an indicator of product availability.
He explained further that the statement from NNPC should be regarded as an orientation or advocacy against stocking petroleum products at home.
“Everybody knows that stocking petroleum products is dangerous because it is a highly flammable liquid. There is always a risk of a fire and/or an explosion if products are stocked at home
“In fact, many occasions in the past have witnessed a series of accidents and deaths occasioned by fire ignited by stored petroleum products in people’s homes.
“The indicators of Product availability are simple: which depots do you have the products?
“In Rivers State, we have about 19 depots, for the past two weeks, all the depots went dry. As we speak, just one among the 19 received a vessel on Wednesday 19 October, 2023, and the vessel is discharging in view of servicing Petroleum Marketers.
“Fuel queues are building seriously in the North, Lagos and Abuja, and yet someone will tell Nigerians that we have sufficient stock for circulation. Although the narrative is always to tell Nigerians what will please them”.
Dr Obele however expressed concern that the landing cost for importing refined petroleum products is becoming huge and unbearable arising from the consistent increment to the price of Crude oil and weakness of the naira against dollar.
“The international price turbulence will be endless because of the external variables. Economic Hardship occasioned by the energy sector will continue in Nigeria until we fix our nation owned refineries and commence local refining here in Nigeria.
“The earlier we fix Nigerian refineries, the better for us as a nation”.
