Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as fuel or petrol, is currently sold at N1000 per litre in some parts of the country.
Naija News understands that the black market is taking advantage of the recent strike actions by tanker drivers, resulting in a significant increase in the price of petrol.
Journalists inspecting the development observed on Wednesday morning that many filling stations owned by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria in Lagos State, Ogun State, and surrounding areas were closed.
Also, long queues were observed at stations owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria.
While the black market is selling petrol at N1000 per litre, MEMAN stations such as Eterna, NorthWest, TotalEnergies, Mobil, Capital Oil, Enyo, Conoil, ForteOil, MRS, and others are offering varying prices ranging from N599 to N615 per litre, according to Channels Television.
As a result, more vehicles are flocking to MEMAN stations as consumers search for the stations with the most affordable prices.
Currently, most IPMAN stations are closed due to low product supply. The few stations that have products available are selling petrol for no less than N650 per litre.
Speaking on the development, Chairman Satellite Depot, IPMAN Lagos State, told journalists on Wednesday morning that NNPCL no longer supplies its members with products.
“NNPCL no longer give us products despite the fact that the pipeline in our area has been repaired. We don’t know why they stopped using the pipeline to supply us with products.
“Maybe they fear vandalism. We now rely on private depots who sell to us at an ex-depot price of between N620/N622 per litre. By the time we take the products to our stations, the landing cost will be around N630 or more, depending on the distance from the depot to our stations.
“Some people are selling around N650. It would have been cheaper if we bought directly from NNPCL at around N555 per litre,” he said.
Naija News reports that following strike actions, due to operational challenges faced by members of the National Association of Road Transport Owners and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, the drivers decided to end the strike on Tuesday.
This decision came after a meeting with the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, oil marketers, and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
NARTO National President, Othman Yusuf, instructed members to promptly resume petroleum loading activities following a meeting in Abuja.