Fuel Scarcity: No respite till May, Kachikwu warns

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has warned that the current fuel scarcity across the country will remain till May.

Kachikwu,  who doubles as the Group Managing Director, GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation, NNPC also said he was not a magician that can make queues disappear overnight.

The minister spoke after after a meeting of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas‎ Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.

Painting what may be a grim picture, the minister insisted that it was even a “magic” that fuel stations were still getting volume of products they dispense to the public, judging from the prevailing circumstances at NNPC.

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According to him, NNPC’s import rates have moved form 50 percent to all- time 100 percent, adding that the 445,000 barrels allocated to crude swap now service 50 to 55 percent importation of refined product.

He however said that in order to achieve lasting solution to product scarcity, government was working to beef up the reserves, adding that when the refineries come on full stream, locally refined products would be left unsold in the reservoir to boost supply and availability of the products.

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