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Fuel scarcity worsens, black market sells at N300/litre

Fuel scarcity worsened in Lagos State, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other parts of the country on Tuesday, resulting in motorists spending long hours at filling stations.

Oil marketers are insisting on the Federal Government approving an increase in the pump price of fuel in order to lessen the queues across the country.

Although some marketers had already raised the price of fuel in their outlets, with some selling as high as N300 per litre, they admitted that the move had not been approved by the government, and that dealers could be sanctioned for selling above the regulated rate.

The approved pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, is N165/litre, but marketers are currently kicking against this rate, saying that it is no longer sustainable going by the global crisis in the energy sector.

The Deputy National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Zarma Mustapha, stated that, “The solution to this crisis is to increase petrol price and have it approved because the cost of diesel used in transporting these products to retail stations has risen from about N250/litre a few months ago to around N850/litre currently.”

The IPMAN official explained that the widespread queues in Nigeria were related to the global energy crisis that had dragged on for about four months since the Ukraine/Russia war started.

“Because of that crisis, the prices of crude have increased astronomically and Russia, being the largest producer of diesel globally, is inaccessible. So, people are not having access to purchase diesel, knowing full well that our refineries are not working.

“We solely depend on imported diesel, so based on that, the scarcity of diesel has become worse, which is the major product we use in transporting fuel to filling stations,” he added.

Meanwhile, commuters were left stranded in various parts of Lagos due to the fuel scarcity and commercial bus drivers used the opportunity to increase transport fares.

Black market players on the other hand are selling as high as N300/litre in Lagos, Abuja, Nasarawa and other states.

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