By Ola Ajayi

Ibadan—The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has put the acute shortage of petrol being experienced nationwide at the door step of owners of private tank farms and alleged lack of will by the regulatory agency, Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to enforce operation rules.

It alleged that the private tank farms owners hoard fuel and sell only to those that can buy for N95 per litre as against the regulated price of N77.66.

The allegation was made yesterday by the Ibadan depot Chairman of the association, Alhaji Olakunle Busari.

He said: “As of today, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, depot that services Oyo and Osun states, has not loaded a single litre of fuel in the last four months. As a result of this, IPMAN members are forced to patronize private depot operators in Lagos who sell to us at exorbitant price.

“If we add the cost of transportation and other depot expenses to the price of buying in Lagos, it makes it virtually impossible for us to sell at the official pump price.

“Related to this is also the fact that the little product allocated to us from NNPC is not given preference of loading at Lagos private depots.

“It takes eight weeks to load and no independent marketer has been serviced more than twice since January.”

NNPC’s action, he said, had adversely affected the daily volume of product given to IPMAN for loading.