Nigerian govt to clampdown on fuel retailers selling above N165/litre

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, has threatened to shut down filling stations selling fuel above the approved pump price of N165 per litre.

Ahmed said the regulator has warned members of the Depots and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN) that retailers who sell above the agreed price will see their license revoked.

Both NMDPRA and the Petroleum Pipeline and Marketing Company (PPMC) have began supervising the sale of petrol at various retail station to ensure compliance with the N165 per litre price.

Ahmed in a statement on Tuesday, said the Federal Government has increased the transportation fee to distribute fuel across the country, from N10.46 kobo to N20.46 kobo to encourage transporters driving the truck to fuel depots.

Fuel distribution has started in Lagos, and will extend into Abuja to halt the scarcity that has made retail station contemplate on increasing the fuel pump price.

Talking about the monitoring exercise, Ahmed said, “We are actually trying to monitor the dispensing to ensure that all the stations with petrol are dispensing all their trucks to reduce the long queues and ensure efficiency in service.”

The NMDPRA boss further stated that, “We are monitoring the depot sales also, checking the number of trucks that loaded; this is a serious fact which we look at.

“There has been a lot of improvement in the distribution of PMS; we have gone round the Airport road and saw a lot of stations selling and discharging fuel.

“The queues are not long like before and the average trucks we have received in Abuja in the last three days are about 140 trucks against 70 trucks to 80 trucks received before; so there is a lot of improvement.”