In a bid to arrest the indiscriminate hike in prices of fuel at depots, the federal government shut down the operations of 7 depots across Nigeria.
Independent marketers had often complained about the increase in depot prices of Premium Motor Spirit popularly referred to as petrol.
Speaking to Journalists in Abuja, the Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, said the agency took the action as the activities of the affected depots did not only contravene the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, it was also a contributory factor to supply crisis in the downstream oil sector.
Ahmed noted that despite several engagements with all stakeholders in the downstream oil sector, the sharp practice by the depots still continued.
“The stakeholders include the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, etc,” he stated.
“We sat down with marketers to discuss these issues and how to address them. But the marketers have continued to increase the ex-depot price beyond reasonable margins.
“The increase is outrageous despite the fact that the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited) sells at a very low price to them. We had meetings with them (marketers) and asked them to comply with the approved price, but they have continued to increase the cost.
“So we had to take action and the first thing we took was to shut down some of the marketing depots. We shut down seven depots. We shut down Ardova and RainOil in Lagos, as well as all their facilities,” he explained.
