DPR says Abuja was supplied 5.5 million litres on Tuesday

dimeji akinloye

May 27, 2015 11:54 PM

DPR’s spokesperson , Saidu Mohammed, said filling stations in Abuja received 5.5 million litres (about 167 trucks) by Tuesday night.

The fuel scarcity almost crippled the country last weekend,

Following the suspension of strike by oil sector workers on Monday, May 25, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said on Wednesday, May 27, that 167 trucks of petrol were supplied to Abuja on Tuesday.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN), had embarked on an indefinite strike on May 18.

The two unions were protesting the inability of the government to meet their demands.

The demands included inability by government to carry out turn-around maintenance of refineries and reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products in line with the slump in global prices of crude oil.

The DPR’s spokesperson , Saidu Mohammed, told NAN that filling stations in Abuja received 5.5 million litres (about 167 trucks) by Tuesday night.

Mohammed said that Suleja Depot, which serves Abuja and its environs , had more than enough fuel to meet the needs of consumers.

The spokesperson expressed the hope that the situation will become normal before the weekend and warned motorists against stockpiling petroleum products.

NAN reports that the scarcity has eased off as many petrol filling stations in Abuja have stocks and are selling.

All the stations were selling at the official pump price of N87 per litre as against N150 or N250 per litre during the scarcity.

However, long queues existed at the filling stations.

The availability of petrol has yet to end the activities of black market operators, who sold the product between N120 and N200 per litre depending on the bargaining power of the buyer.

However, stations outside Abuja, especially in Suleja, Kuje and Zuba-Gwaglada Road, still sold petrol above the official price except at stations belonging to major oil marketers.

Fares that rose between 100 per cent and 200 per cent during the period of acute scarcity have also come down by 50 per cent.

dimeji akinloye