Marketers halt fuel imports, stations run dry, queues return

Seven oil marketers, who imported Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, about a month ago, have stopped bringing in the commodity into the market, leading to pockets of scarcity in some parts of the country.

It was gathered on Friday that the only importer of PMS at the moment was the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, as many depots and filling stations now lack petrol, leading to queues in outlets that dispensed fuel.

The last private dealer, Petrocam, that imported petrol into Nigeria recently, cannot sell it due to the return of subsidy on the product and the insistence of the NNPCL not to raise the pump price.

Oil marketers told our correspondent that before last month, whenever they brought in the product, they would convince the NNPCL to raise the price in line with the landing cost.

Source: punch