18th February, 2016
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Port Harcourt zone, has slammed the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, in the zone for failing to monitor activities of depot owners and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN.
The NUPENG zonal chairman, Godwin Eruba condemned the inability of DPR to monitor depot owners who refuse to sell their products, describing the current fuel scarcity in Rivers State as sabotage.
“NUPENG is not on strike and we do not intend go on strike. DPR should leave the comfort of their offices and monitor the depot owners who are sabotaging the efforts of the Federal Government to reduce the pump price of petrol to N86 and N86.50 per litre,” Eruba said.
Eruba also advised independent petroleum marketers to buy petrol directly from the NNPC in order to sell at the approved pump price of N86.50 per litre.
He lamented that Rivers State, which is as the hub of petroleum industry in West Africa, with two refineries and petroleum products depots all over the state capital, is persistently plagued by fuel scarcity even when other states have regular supplies.
At the time of filing this report, only a few petrol stations were selling the product.
Consequently, there are long queues and struggle by motorists who leave their houses early in the morning to join queues.
The scarcity is now a serious concern for commuter bus operators. Some motorists who spoke about the agony they are subjected to, said the long hours spent queuing at petrol stations is affecting their business.
In the meantime, black marketers have taken advantage of the situation to sell petroleum products at exorbitant prices.
Some of the black marketers said that they now sell a litre of petrol at N120 per litre as against the official pump price of N86.50.
Meanwhile