Fuel Scarcity: Nigerians buy fuel for N200 per litre

The scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol has yet to abate throughout the country as at Saturday. Investigations by our correspondents showed that long queues of vehicles still swarmed the few fuel stations which had the product all over the country while outlets which did not have remained under lock and key. Residents of Jos, the Plateau State capital and its environs are still witnessing long queues of vehicles as fuel scarcity enters its second week. Most of the filling stations, in Jos, the Plateau State capital and environs, especially major markers remained without supplies throughout the week, as their independent counterparts made brisk business by selling fuel well above N200 per litre. In Osun State on Saturday, motorists queued for hours at some of the very few fuel stations selling petrol at N87 per litre. Our correspondent observed that in Osogbo, the state capital, filling stations sold a litre of petrol between N120 to N150 while many stations did not open to customers. In Imo, the devastating effect of scarcity of fuel in the country has given opportunity to petroleum marketers in Imo state to hike their pump prices between N105 to N150 per litre. The scarcity of fuel in Oyo State reached a new level on Saturday in Ibadan and other towns in the state as pump price of petrol hit N160 per litre in a few fuel stations that had the product. In Rivers State, though petroleum products were not scarce, the price had gone beyond the N87 per litre official price. While some filling stations sold petrol at N120 per litre, others sold between N110 and N115 a litre. Independent petrol stations in satellite towns in Abuja sold fuel between N120 and N140 per litre on Saturday. Only the major petrol stations like Conoil, Total, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and a few others, dispensed fuel at the N87 per litre regulated price on Saturday. In Enugu, though there was no scarcity, petrol sold on Saturday far above N87. The fuel scarcity in Kwara State especially in Ilorin metropolis has started to abate. Long queues of vehicles have started disappearing in the capital city as many of the petrol stations that lacked the product few days had resumed sales of petrol to buyers.