THE prolonged petrol scarcity worsened in Lagos, Ogun and other states, yesterday, as independent marketers started lifting the product from private depots at N780 per litre, from N595 per litre, indicating an increase of 31 per cent.
The marketers believe the hike in price reflects the current demand and supply of the product in the domestic market.
Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, who confirmed this in an interview, also expressed optimism that the bad situation could improve in the coming days.
Chief Ukadike noted that more trucks have left the depots in the past few days, adding that though independent marketers are still sourcing the product at a higher rate, more marketers can load their trucks.
According to him, NNPC has started releasing products to independent marketers. The queues that we see are ghost queues. They appear in the morning but disappear in the afternoon or evening. He also said it will continue like that until supply stabilizes in the coming days and becomes sufficient enough.
Petrol distribution challenges, which have gone on for about six weeks have led to long queues at filling stations across the country with several marketers jerking up their pump prices.
Checks around Abuja yesterday showed that while queues have eased slightly at the stations around the central area, the supply situation remains tense in other parts of the Federal Capital Territory.
Pump prices also remained high, ranging from N685/litre at outlets operated by major marketers to N950/litre at stations managed by independent marketers.
He disclosed that IPMAN is still waiting to meet with the management of the Dangote Refinery ahead of the expected release of petrol from the refinery, stressing that independent marketers are determined to remove middlemen from their dealings with the refinery.