The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has increased the supply of Premium Motor Spirit to independent oil marketers, in a bid to avert a further hike in the pump price of the commodity.
Oil marketers confirmed on Friday that the national oil company listened to their demands for an increase in the volumes of PMS released to independent filling stations, so as to curb the widening disparity in the cost of petrol.
The move by NNPCL had now improved the availability of products in retail outlets operated by independent marketers, adding that the national oil firm also promised to sustain this, they said.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, said there was a lopsided pattern in the distribution of PMS lately, stressing that this would cause scarcity and worsen the price disparity in retail outlets.
“Here in Port Harcourt, for instance, we have Oando and NNPC Retail, and they have products in some private depots. Master Energy and Liquid Bulk also have products, but there is no volume for independent marketers,” the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, had stated.
But when asked whether the NNPCL had listened to the demands of oil marketers, in order to avert the imminent price hike, Ukadike replied in the affirmative.
The IPMAN official assured PMS consumers that with the sustenance of adequate supply by NNPCL, the cost of petrol at filling stations operated by independent marketers, would always revolve around the government-approved price.
He said, “The NNPCL supplied 13 million litres and informed us about it. This is to cushion the effect of the poor supply in the affected areas. They also promised that they will ensure that marketers are given products back-to-back.”
Original Author: Okechukwu Nnodim
Source: The Punch
