By UDEME CLEMENT

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Worker (NUPENG) says the scarcity of petrol, which hit Lagos and other neighbouring states in the country, may persist if the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) does not put measures in place to urgently repair the Arepo distribution pipeline vandalised recently by hoodlums.

In the same vein, NUPENG urged NNPC and oil marketers to ensure massive importation of petroleum products, especially in the last quarter of the year, which is associated with increased economic activities and people travelling to other parts of the country, to prevent recurring problem of scarcity.

The Western Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Tokunbo Korodo, made this known, explaining that fuel scarcity, which took Lagosians unawares, has spread to Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Kwara , and may likely affect other areas if the distribution pipeline is not immediately repaired to boost the supply chain of the product.

“We are aware that NNPC is making efforts to tackle the scarcity by evacuating products with trucks. That method may help to an extent but it can not be effective as distribution through the pipeline. For instance, the vandalised pipeline carries between 9 and 11 million litres of fuel on daily basis. So, evacuation of fuel by trucking cannot be efficient as the pipeline to meet the increasing demand by users”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Mr. Fidel Pepple, in a statement, attributed current fuel scarcity to the shutdown of System 2B, a major pipeline that evacuates between nine to 11 million litres of petrol from Lagos to Ibadan , Ilorin and the North due to vandalism by oil thieves recently.

He said, “The Corporation had stepped up distribution through tankers. I want to assure Nigerians that NNPC has stepped up fuel supply to marketers and distributors for effective and efficient supply of fuel to Nigerians. We have raised the daily supply of fuel from the Folawiyo Tank Farm from 150 tankers to 250 tankers, MRS from 100 to 200 tankers, Capital Oil to 300 tankers, NIPCO to 70 tankers and AITEO to 100 tankers. Fuel delivery and supply to Port Harcourt , Aba and Calabar had also been augmented and that bridging to the North had equally enjoyed robust supply”.

Sunday Business, during a visit to Arepo where the distribution pipeline was vandalised, gathered that it may take a little time for NNPC to fix the damaged pipeline as hoodlums in that area recently abducted and killed some engineers assigned by the corporation to repair the facility previously.

Also NNPC is trying to collaborate with security agencies in order to repair the pipeline to enhance product distribution to the affected states. Our investigations revealed that the recent damage is not the first time the Arepo pipeline is being ruptured by oil thieves, as some individuals residing within the community, who spoke under anonymity, explained that vandals often open the pipeline to divert petroleum products.

Some of the filling stations monitored in Lagos include Total, Conoil and Mobil along Lagos-Ibadan Express Way , selling fuel amid long queues. Others include Total near Oshodi, Conoil at Chinese Village, Mobil at Gbagada and AP within Apapa. The outlets visited in Ifo local government area of Ogun State were AP, Oando and MRS. In MRS outlet located at Koye road, Olambe area, a disagreement ensued between the station manager and a driver who went to buy fuel but was turned down by the attendant, who explained that the station was opened for a particular individuals on private arrangement. This explains the activities of some station managers who capitalise on fuel scarcity to sell at the black market price.