Oil & Energy
When Will Long Queues Disappear From Filling Stations?
Fathoming the intrigues of oil politics in Nigeria has remained a fundamental contradiction. With an economy that is heavily dependent on crude oil revenue, Nigeria has wobbled consistently in the production, distribution and utilization of petroleum products. This is more disturbing because Nigeria is about the sixth largest producer on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) template, and the ninth largest gas producer globally.
Nigeria appears the only oil and gas producing country where consumers battle endlessly to get petroleum products. Indeed, long queues have remained a ubiquitous feature of the nation’s filling stations. Every attempt by government to normalize the process has met with stiff resistance by what seems a cartel, their proxies, agents and accomplices, who feed fat on the skewed system. But the scramble for petroleum products is now a predominant ethos despite attempts to put the situation under control.
In Port Harcourt and its environs, petroleum products are almost always scarce at the available filling stations dotted all over the city and its suburbs as customers find out at every blink of the eyes that their gates are locked under the pretext that they don’t have supplies. Even the filling station operators have cashed in on this unfortunate malady to exploit customers through various unsavoury means.
The Tide can now authoritatively state that this festering situation has given rise to a retinue of black market operators. In fact, the filling station attendants obviously prefer to sell products to the black market cartel, who procure the products at higher prices. The black market operators, also expressly make the products available to would-be customers at exorbitant rates, even as the genuine marketers are complaining of lack of supplies. This, indeed, is the irony.
Take a visit to TOTAL Filling Station at Elele Alimini in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, for example. The romance between black market operators and fuel pump attendants is conspicuous. A retinue of youths, who have embraced the hoarding and hawking of products as a pastime, besiege the station with hundreds of jerry cans on a daily basis to buy fuel for retailing at cut-throat prices. Motorists could be seen stranded in queues for hours or even days as they wait in vein under the scourging sun to be attended to. But, alas, TOTAL is not alone in this matter. Other major marketers are also culprits in this saga. However, the independent marketers are worse in this game.
Most filling stations across the state, particularly in the major cities or urban centres, relish in this show of shame. The filling stations prefer to sell in jerry cans. Why? Simply because the black market vendors of petroleum products pay more to get the products. For example, a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which is commonly called fuel, officially sold at filling stations for N65, is pumped to the jerry cans of these illegal fuel racketeers at N70 per litre. The cartel takes the products across the filling station’s fence, on the road, and sells the products easily to desperate motorists or other end users for as much as between N96 and N105 per litre. In fact, a 20-litre petrol bought from the filling station at N1,800, is usually sold just a few metres away from the filling station it was originally bought at a minimum of N3,800. At some times, that 20-litre fuel goes for as much as between N5,000 and N6,500. These are the daily occurrences within Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and its environs.
Let’s take a typical Port Harcourt scenario, for instance. At the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mega Station at Lagos Bus Stop in the heart of the city, a hoard of illegal products dealers and marketers surround the circumference. They buy PMS, kerosene, and diesel in jerry cans directly from the mega station. Just immediately after that, they beat a cautious retreat across the road, where they display their products for sale to potential buyers. The illegal market here is booming, very lucrative, but dangerous and life-threatening because of the flammable substances they deal on.
While some motorists queue to get products from the mega station, others, who do no want to waste their precious time queuing to get fuel from the station, end up with the hawkers of products nearby. There, they procure the products just as they ask. They only need to negotiate appropriate prices, mostly at cut-throat rates, with the syndicate, who control a huge market within the precinct. From petrol, kerosene to diesel, the products are almost always available, even in the face of acute scarcity. Elsewhere in Port Harcourt Township, where there is a well known filling station, the story is the same.
A drive through Station Road/Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs Road will reveal similar atmosphere, particularly between Station Bus Stop and Loko Bus Stop, or the popular Post Office Bus Stop. On this stretch are Mobil, Oando, AP, TOTAL, and Conoil filling stations. Petrol hawkers make brisk business on a daily basis here.
On the very busy Port Harcourt/Aba Expressway, the craze for the market is palpable. From Leventis Bus Stop through Eleme Junction, the unending sight of products hawkers is almost permanent. In fact, Aba Road has another high concentration of illegal products hawkers in Port Harcourt. Both day and night, these hawkers are there, at your beck and call. This is the popular road that connects Port Harcourt, nay, Rivers State, to other neighbouring states to the East, West, North and even South. Within a 16-kilometre stretch of this road from Isaac Boro Park, are three Conoil stations, one Oando station, three Texaco stations, two AP stations, four TOTAL stations, three Mobil stations, an NNPC mini-Mega Station at Oil Mill Junction, and about six independent filling stations between Oil Mill and the former toll gate, some metres away from KM16.
The Tide spoke to some motorists, illegal products dealers, filling station attendants, and other stakeholders, who voiced their concerns on the lingering trend. Motorists, who spoke to The Tide at some of the filling stations, alleged that most of the fuel attendants and station managers, reserve certain pumps for black market operators, who buy in jerry cans and drums, in some cases. They claimed that most of the fuel attendants prefer to sell to those with jerry cans because they add their commissions to the approved pump price of products, thereby jerking the prices up. They also say that the long queues noticed at most filling stations are as a result of the fact that the fuel pump attendants don’t sell to vehicles immediately they find their way into the stations. They, therefore, blamed the persisting problem on government agencies charged with the responsibility of checking the situation, lack of adequate personnel to monitor and enforce the laws.
As for some of the illegal products dealers, they argued that buying in jerry cans makes their returns faster. They agree that although there is a lot of risk involved, they have to continue with the business because that is the only way they can earn some money to feed their families and make ends meet. They also agree that the risk may be enormous, but argued that there is nothing they can do for now, given that it is not easy to get paid employment in the country today.
But the filling station managers and fuel attendants continue to pass the buck. They argue that the long queues are as a result of inadequate product supplies. They also argue that although they sell to vehicles as they come in, but that the criminal elements, who buy in jerry cans for resell, harass, threaten and intimidate them, if they don’t sell to them as quickly as possible. They said some of the criminals hovering around filling stations, posing as gate men in some cases, oftentimes, take over the sale of products at the stations. They claimed that it is for this reason that some of them have gone the extra length to engage the services of armed police men to man the gates or mount checks at the pumps to ward off any intruders and those who may want to assault them.
However, some stakeholders disagree. They told The Tide that the filling station managers and attendants are aiding and abetting the situation. They leveled series of allegations against the operators of the filling stations, including hoarding, selling more to with jerry cans, and encouraging illegal bunkering and hawking of products. They challenged government agencies responsible for monitoring, enforcement, and regulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry to brace up to the deteriorating situation so as to save Nigerians from the lingering fuel crisis. They also urged government to repair existing refineries to enable them operate at full capacities, augment and bridge supplies through importation, and check hoarding of products.
Honestly, the government needs to do more to normalize the situation. At the state level, the Rivers State Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources should live up to its mandate. The Petroleum Products Monitoring Task Force has been reportedly dissolved, but it needs to be reconstituted, reinvigorated, strengthened and empowered to prosecute law breakers and other offenders. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) inspectors, monitoring teams and agents should intensify efforts at getting the various filling stations to play by the rules, even if it means shutting down and prosecuting filling station managers, pump attendants, and dealers who compromise.
At the national level, the lead provided by the Petroleum Minister, Dr Rilwanu Lukman, two weeks ago, in a terse warning to the management of NNPC to address the problem of fuel scarcity in major cities in Nigeria or face sanctions has yielded positive result in Abuja. The queues that hitherto, permeated all filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) suddenly disappeared, some few days after the warning. In Lagos, Port Harcourt, and elsewhere, the situation has yet to return to normalcy. This is why an integrated approach is required to address the ugly situation, and make it easy for Nigerians to enter the filling stations, get whatever products they want, and leave without much ado. It is a matter of mustering the political will to act. And the minister has already shown it. Others must follow suit. This is only when the long queues will disappear from the filling stations across Nigeria.
When Will Long Queues Disappear From Filling Stations?
OIL & ENERGY
Taneh Beemene
Fathoming the intrigues of oil politics in Nigeria has remained a fundamental contradiction. With an economy that is heavily dependent on crude oil revenue, Nigeria has wobbled consistently in the production, distribution and utilization of petroleum products. This is more disturbing because Nigeria is about the sixth largest producer on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) template, and the ninth largest gas producer globally.
Nigeria appears the only oil and gas producing country where consumers battle endlessly to get petroleum products. Indeed, long queues have remained a ubiquitous feature of the nation’s filling stations. Every attempt by government to normalize the process has met with stiff resistance by what seems a cartel, their proxies, agents and accomplices, who feed fat on the skewed system. But the scramble for petroleum products is now a predominant ethos despite attempts to put the situation under control.
In Port Harcourt and its environs, petroleum products are almost always scarce at the available filling stations dotted all over the city and its suburbs as customers find out at every blink of the eyes that their gates are locked under the pretext that they don’t have supplies. Even the filling station operators have cashed in on this unfortunate malady to exploit customers through various unsavoury means.
The Tide can now authoritatively state that this festering situation has given rise to a retinue of black market operators. In fact, the filling station attendants obviously prefer to sell products to the black market cartel, who procure the products at higher prices. The black market operators, also expressly make the products available to would-be customers at exorbitant rates, even as the genuine marketers are complaining of lack of supplies. This, indeed, is the irony.
Take a visit to TOTAL Filling Station at Elele Alimini in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, for example. The romance between black market operators and fuel pump attendants is conspicuous. A retinue of youths, who have embraced the hoarding and hawking of products as a pastime, besiege the station with hundreds of jerry cans on a daily basis to buy fuel for retailing at cut-throat prices. Motorists could be seen stranded in queues for hours or even days as they wait in vein under the scourging sun to be attended to. But, alas, TOTAL is not alone in this matter. Other major marketers are also culprits in this saga. However, the independent marketers are worse in this game.
Most filling stations across the state, particularly in the major cities or urban centres, relish in this show of shame. The filling stations prefer to sell in jerry cans. Why? Simply because the black market vendors of petroleum products pay more to get the products. For example, a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which is commonly called fuel, officially sold at filling stations for N65, is pumped to the jerry cans of these illegal fuel racketeers at N70 per litre. The cartel takes the products across the filling station’s fence, on the road, and sells the products easily to desperate motorists or other end users for as much as between N96 and N105 per litre. In fact, a 20-litre petrol bought from the filling station at N1,800, is usually sold just a few metres away from the filling station it was originally bought at a minimum of N3,800. At some times, that 20-litre fuel goes for as much as between N5,000 and N6,500. These are the daily occurrences within Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and its environs.
Let’s take a typical Port Harcourt scenario, for instance. At the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mega Station at Lagos Bus Stop in the heart of the city, a hoard of illegal products dealers and marketers surround the circumference. They buy PMS, kerosene, and diesel in jerry cans directly from the mega station. Just immediately after that, they beat a cautious retreat across the road, where they display their products for sale to potential buyers. The illegal market here is booming, very lucrative, but dangerous and life-threatening because of the flammable substances they deal on.
While some motorists queue to get products from the mega station, others, who do no want to waste their precious time queuing to get fuel from the station, end up with the hawkers of products nearby. There, they procure the products just as they ask. They only need to negotiate appropriate prices, mostly at cut-throat rates, with the syndicate, who control a huge market within the precinct. From petrol, kerosene to diesel, the products are almost always available, even in the face of acute scarcity. Elsewhere in Port Harcourt Township, where there is a well known filling station, the story is the same.
A drive through Station Road/Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs Road will reveal similar atmosphere, particularly between Station Bus Stop and Loko Bus Stop, or the popular Post Office Bus Stop. On this stretch are Mobil, Oando, AP, TOTAL, and Conoil filling stations. Petrol hawkers make brisk business on a daily basis here.
On the very busy Port Harcourt/Aba Expressway, the craze for the market is palpable. From Leventis Bus Stop through Eleme Junction, the unending sight of products hawkers is almost permanent. In fact, Aba Road has another high concentration of illegal products hawkers in Port Harcourt. Both day and night, these hawkers are there, at your beck and call. This is the popular road that connects Port Harcourt, nay, Rivers State, to other neighbouring states to the East, West, North and even South. Within a 16-kilometre stretch of this road from Isaac Boro Park, are three Conoil stations, one Oando station, three Texaco stations, two AP stations, four TOTAL stations, three Mobil stations, an NNPC mini-Mega Station at Oil Mill Junction, and about six independent filling stations between Oil Mill and the former toll gate, some metres away from KM16.
The Tide spoke to some motorists, illegal products dealers, filling station attendants, and other stakeholders, who voiced their concerns on the lingering trend. Motorists, who spoke to The Tide at some of the filling stations, alleged that most of the fuel attendants and station managers, reserve certain pumps for black market operators, who buy in jerry cans and drums, in some cases. They claimed that most of the fuel attendants prefer to sell to those with jerry cans because they add their commissions to the approved pump price of products, thereby jerking the prices up. They also say that the long queues noticed at most filling stations are as a result of the fact that the fuel pump attendants don’t sell to vehicles immediately they find their way into the stations. They, therefore, blamed the persisting problem on government agencies charged with the responsibility of checking the situation, lack of adequate personnel to monitor and enforce the laws.
As for some of the illegal products dealers, they argued that buying in jerry cans makes their returns faster. They agree that although there is a lot of risk involved, they have to continue with the business because that is the only way they can earn some money to feed their families and make ends meet. They also agree that the risk may be enormous, but argued that there is nothing they can do for now, given that it is not easy to get paid employment in the country today.
But the filling station managers and fuel attendants continue to pass the buck. They argue that the long queues are as a result of inadequate product supplies. They also argue that although they sell to vehicles as they come in, but that the criminal elements, who buy in jerry cans for resell, harass, threaten and intimidate them, if they don’t sell to them as quickly as possible. They said some of the criminals hovering around filling stations, posing as gate men in some cases, oftentimes, take over the sale of products at the stations. They claimed that it is for this reason that some of them have gone the extra length to engage the services of armed police men to man the gates or mount checks at the pumps to ward off any intruders and those who may want to assault them.
However, some stakeholders disagree. They told The Tide that the filling station managers and attendants are aiding and abetting the situation. They leveled series of allegations against the operators of the filling stations, including hoarding, selling more to with jerry cans, and encouraging illegal bunkering and hawking of products. They challenged government agencies responsible for monitoring, enforcement, and regulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry to brace up to the deteriorating situation so as to save Nigerians from the lingering fuel crisis. They also urged government to repair existing refineries to enable them operate at full capacities, augment and bridge supplies through importation, and check hoarding of products.
Honestly, the government needs to do more to normalize the situation. At the state level, the Rivers State Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources should live up to its mandate. The Petroleum Products Monitoring Task Force has been reportedly dissolved, but it needs to be reconstituted, reinvigorated, strengthened and empowered to prosecute law breakers and other offenders. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) inspectors, monitoring teams and agents should intensify efforts at getting the various filling stations to play by the rules, even if it means shutting down and prosecuting filling station managers, pump attendants, and dealers who compromise.
At the national level, the lead provided by the Petroleum Minister, Dr Rilwanu Lukman, two weeks ago, in a terse warning to the management of NNPC to address the problem of fuel scarcity in major cities in Nigeria or face sanctions has yielded positive result in Abuja. The queues that hitherto, permeated all filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) suddenly disappeared, some few days after the warning. In Lagos, Port Harcourt, and elsewhere, the situation has yet to return to normalcy. This is why an integrated approach is required to address the ugly situation, and make it easy for Nigerians to enter the filling stations, get whatever products they want, and leave without much ado. It is a matter of mustering the political will to act. And the minister has already shown it. Others must follow suit. This is only when the long queues will disappear from the filling stations across Nigeria.
Nigeria’s losses due to crude oil theft has been said to be more significant than those of some other members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC).
The Chairman, Senate Ad- hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft, Senator Ned Nwoko, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Nwoko noted with dismay the detrimental impact of the issue, which, he said include economic damage, environmental destruction, and its impact on host communities.
According to him, the theft was not only weakening the Naira, but also depriving the nation of vital revenue needed for infrastructure, healthcare, education and social development.
The Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District described the scale of the theft as staggering, with reports indicating losses of over 200,000 barrels per day.
Nwoko disclosed that the ad hoc committee on Crude Oil Theft, which he chairs, recently had a two-day public hearing on the rampant theft of crude oil through illegal bunkering, pipeline vandalism, and the systemic gaps in the regulation and surveillance of the nation’s petroleum resources.
According to him, the public hearing was a pivotal step in addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing the nation.
‘’Nigeria loses billions of dollars annually to crude oil theft. This is severely undermining our economy, weakening the Naira and depriving the nation of vital revenue needed for infrastructure, healthcare, education, and social development.
‘’The scale of this theft is staggering, with reports indicating losses of over 200,000 barrels per day more than some OPEC member nations produce.
‘’This criminal enterprise fuels corruption, funds illegal activities and devastates our environment through spills and pollution.
‘’The public hearing was not just another talk shop; it was a decisive platform to uncover the root causes of crude oil theft, bunkering and pipeline vandalism.
‘’It was a platform to evaluate the effectiveness of existing surveillance, monitoring, and enforcement mechanisms; Identify regulatory and legislative gaps that enable these crimes to thrive.
‘’It was also to engage stakeholders, security agencies, host communities, oil companies, regulators, and experts to proffer actionable solutions; and strengthen legal frameworks to ensure stricter penalties and more efficient prosecution of offenders”, he said.
Nwoko noted that Nigeria’s survival depended
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SNEPCo) has called on Nigerian companies to position themselves strategically to take full advantage of the growing opportunities in upcoming offshore and shallow water oil and gas projects.
The Managing Director, SNEPCO, Ronald Adams, made the call at the 5th Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) Conference, held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, last Thursday.
Adams highlighted the major projects, including Bonga Southwest Aparo, Bonga North, and the Bonga Main Life Extension, as key areas where Nigerian businesses can grow their capacity and increase their involvement.
“Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SNEPCo) says Nigerian companies have a lot to benefit if they are prepared to take advantage of more opportunities in its offshore and shallow water oil and gas projects.
“Projects such as Bonga Southwest Aparo, Bonga North and Bonga Main Life Extension could grow Nigerian businesses and improve their expertise if they applied themselves seriously to executing higher value contracts”, Adams stated.
Adams noted that SNEPCo pioneered Nigeria’s deepwater oil exploration with the Bonga development and has since played a key role in growing local industry capacity.
He emphasized that Nigerian businesses could expand in key areas like logistics, drilling, and the construction of vital equipment such as subsea systems, mooring units, and gas processing facilities.
The SNEPCO boss explained that since production began at the Bonga field in 2005, SNEPCo has worked closely with Nigerian contractors to build systems and develop a skilled workforce capable of delivering projects safely, on time, and within budget both in Nigeria and across West Africa.
According to him, this long-term support has enabled local firms to take on key roles in managing the Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which reached a major milestone by producing its one-billion barrel of oil on February 3, 2023.
The Emohua Local Government Area Administrator, Franklin Ajinwo, has pledged to improve electricity distribution in Oduoha Ogbakiri and its environs.
Ajinwo made the pledge recently while playing host in a courtesy visit to the Oduoha Ogbakiri Wezina Council of Chiefs, in his office in Rumuakunde.
He stated that arrangements are underway to enhance available power, reduce frequent outages, and promote steady electricity supply.
The move, he said, was aimed at boosting small and medium-scale businesses in the area.
“The essence of power is not just to have light at night. It’s for those who can use it to enhance their businesses”, he said.
The Administrator, who commended the peaceful nature of Ogbakiri people, urged the Chiefs to continue in promoting peace and stability, saying “meaningful development can only thrive in a peaceful environment”.
He also charged the Chiefs to protect existing infrastructure while promising to address the challenges faced by the community.
Earlier, the Oduoha Ogbakiri Wezina Council of Chiefs, led by HRH Eze Goodluck Mekwa Eleni Ekenta XV, expressed gratitude to the Administrator over his appointment and pledged their support to his administration.
The chiefs highlighted challenges facing the community to include incessant power outage, need for new transformers, and the completion of Community Secondary School, Oduoha.
The visit underscored the community’s expectations from the LGA administration.
With Ajinwo’s assurance of enhancing electricity distribution and promoting development, the people of Oduoha Ogbakiri said they look forward to a brighter future.
By: King Onunwor