The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, yesterday, adopted new measures aimed at guaranteeing adequate fuel supply across the country, by fixing N148 per litre as the price for lifting petrol at depots.
It also agreed to supply outstanding stock to independent oil marketers, to end product shortage.
This came as the independent marketers said they had been lifting the product from private depots at about N200 per litre, which made it impossible for them to meet the Department of State Services, DSS, 48-hour directive last week.
They said that the situation also led to their inability to sell petrol at the N170 per litre like their major marketers’ counterparts and NNPCL.
It was gathered by newsmen yesterday, that  a meeting was held between NNPCL, marketers and all the stakeholders, where the issues were resolved.
Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, who confirmed the development, said: “Our members have now been allowed to lift petrol at N148 per litre, meaning that we can now reduce our pump prices. We are committed to working with other parties to tackle the shortage across the country as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, yesterday, called on NNPCL to end the lingering scarcity of petroleum products in the next week to ease the suffering of Nigerians.
The House also called on Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to seek the collaboration of the Nigerian Police Force and DSS to ensure that fuel was sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets.
The resolutions followed a motion entitled: “Urgent Need for the Government to End the Current Fuel Scarcity,” moved by Saidu Abdullahi (Niger State) under matters of urgent public importance at plenary."
Presenting the motion, Abdullahi noted that in the last few months, Nigerians have been subjected to untold hardships caused by petrol scarcity, affecting economic activities and making the already trying times in the country more difficult.
He said: “Intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our securities agencies indicated that there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the effort of the government in the distribution of fuel in the country by hoarding the petroleum products and thereby, creating artificial scarcity all over the country."
“While the fuel scarcity is hurting, some major marketers are currently selling fuel at government regulated price, but some independent marketers, who operate in the market have enough petroleum products and are selling at unregulated prices."
“Most of those fuel stations have resulted in selling fuel at over N300 per litre. It is observed with dismay that those who are gaining from this artificial fuel scarcity appear to be smiling home as a result of this ugly development and this has the potency to provoke innocent Nigerians against the government.”