Oscarline Onwuemenyi
14 April 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday claimed that the fuel supply and distribution situation has drastically improved in Abuja and its environs following increased truck out from 186 to 240 trucks from earlier in the week, adding that the more trucks would be dispatched henceforth to sustain the effort.
According to a statement from the Corporation and its downstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Products Marketing Company (NPMC), it stated that 12 cargoes laden with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, are currently discharging in Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt ports in order to wet the nation and trigger robust supply and distribution of petrol.
The corporation’s spokesman, Garba Deen Muhammad, said that the NNPC, Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), and the Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), are all trucking out petrol from their various marine and inland depots to stabilise the situation.
He said, “The NNPC/NPMC is collaborating with the various relevant stakeholders in the hydrocarbon value chain to wet the nation with PMS. This is in line with the resolve and mandate of the minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to restore normalcy to the filling stations across the states of the federation.”
While adding that more trucks are also being sent to Nasarawa, Kaduna and Niger states to reduce the demand in Abuja, he informed that at the moment, 12 other vessels laden with PMS have been lined up to ensure a seamless flow of petrol to all the NNPC inland depots and other strategic reserves across the country.