Oil marketers have resolved to start blending the over 100 million litres of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, which was imported into Nigeria over two weeks ago.
It was gathered on Tuesday that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had yet to recall all the contaminated PMS, as the commodity had been occupying spaces in the tanks of filling stations.
As a result, marketers said the situation had made it difficult for filling stations to take delivery of new products to sell to their customers, a development that worsened the scarcity of petrol, resulting in massive queues in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Niger, Nasarawa and many other states.
The Nations Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, told our correspondent that some retailers in Lagos had started blending the adulterated PMS with clean fuel.
Asked whether the NNPC had recalled all the contaminated PMS as reported in some quarters on Tuesday, Ukadike replied, “That is not true.”
He added, “I also want to tell you that in our members’ filling stations, some of the ones I know in Port Harcourt, Ichie and Obigbo in Rivers State, as well as a few in Abuja, I have their names and numbers, the (adulterated) products are still in their tanks now.
“And they have been running helter-skelter to see whether they will be able to get fresh products to blend the ones in their tanks and push all of it out to the public.
“This is because we got information that some of our members who are in Lagos are bringing in fresh products to blend with the contaminated ones and neutralise the sulphur and methanol.”
Ukadike, however, noted that many filling stations had yet to get new supplies that were enough to blend the adulterated products in their tanks.
“But unfortunately up till now they (filling stations) have not got new supplies and that is one of the basic reasons for the scarcity you see here and there across the country,” he stated.
On whether marketers have the capacity or equipment to blend the adulterated products with clean fuel, Ukadike replied that they were ready to try it, since the NNPC had yet to recall the products.
He said, “The NNPC has a blending plant which could have done this thing clinically and make it more appropriate. But we have waited for weeks now and nothing has been done.
“You know, we don’t have testing machines, so marketers just want to do this permutation, considering the huge amount spent on the purchase of the products and in order to help to address petrol scarcity.”
The scarcity of petrol persisted in Abuja and neighbouring states on Tuesday, as Ukadike told our correspondent that the situation was also pronounced in many states.
It was, however, gathers that to address the situation, over 2.3 billion litres of PMS would arrive the country between now and the end of February 2022.
Sources at the NNPC stated that this would restore sufficiency, and even above the national target of 30 days.
“As of today, the NNPC has over one billion litres of petrol in stock, and the PMS being dispensed today at the various filling stations in the country is safe,” the source, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation, stated.
The official stated that in order to accelerate PMS distribution across the country, the NNPC had commenced 24 hours operations at its depots and retail outlets.
