On Sunday, there were signs that petrol scarcity had returned to Lagos and its surrounds, as numerous oil marketers closed their outlets against vehicles and other buyers.
Last week, there was a scarcity in Abuja and its environs, which development oil dealers attributed to terrible roads and the high cost of fuel for distribution.
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But checks by Vanguard, over the weekend, indicated that many independent and major oil marketers were not open for business, leaving only the NNPC Limited to attend to customers in most parts of Lagos visited.
It was gathered that NNPC Limited has supply because it remains the only importer of the product.
Despite deregulation, other operators have not been able to import petrol because of market uncertainty and lack of foreign exchange, currently standing at more than N1,000/dollar in the informal market.
In a telephone interview with Vanguard, yesterday, the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, said actions had been taken to address the situation.
He said: “Stakeholders have been meeting and measures have been taken to enable oil marketers to access foreign exchange at a rate that will not disturb the current price of the product.”
However, checks by Vanguard in Abuja showed that most major marketers which were opened have hiked their pump price from N615 per liter to N625 per litre.
