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The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Friday attributed the lingering fuel scarcity in the country to a disruption in the product distribution chain caused by activities of cross-border smugglers.
In a statement on Friday, the agency said “the current distribution hitch is heightened by activities of cross-border smugglers, who divert PMS meant for the Nigerian market to neighbouring countries where PMS prices are significantly higher than Nigeria’s regulated price.”
However, the agency claimed that there is petroleum motor spirit (PMS) sufficiency of over 1.6 billion litres as of 26 January both on land and marine.
It explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has additionally made a firm commitment to supply more volume of PMS for the months ahead to guarantee national energy security and nationwide availability at the government-regulated price.
It noted that the agency is engaging and collaborating with the Nigeria Customs Service to address this issue.
“The price arbitrage between Nigeria and neighbouring countries has continued to grow due to inflation and the regional impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the global energy value chain including international freight rates and coastal vessels charter rates,” it said.
