The President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, has outlined the reasons for the persistent fuel queues at filling stations across the country.
Speaking at the 2024 PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit in Abuja on Thursday, Osifo attributed the long lines to a weak and outdated fuel distribution system in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sector.
“The distribution chain in the downstream sector is inadequate. This is why we continue to see queues at filling stations across the country. Even when the problem seems resolved today, it reappears tomorrow,” Osifo said. He explained that Nigeria’s distribution infrastructure is not equipped to meet the demands of its large population. “There is no country with a population as large as Nigeria’s that depends on a single point of importation and uses trucks to distribute fuel nationwide,” he added.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Osifo also pointed out that poor road conditions and flooding have disrupted fuel supply, contributing to shortages at filling stations. He emphasized the need for urgent reforms to address these challenges and called on the government to develop a more robust and efficient distribution network.
Osifo noted that without significant improvements, Nigeria will continue to experience recurring fuel shortages. He also highlighted other issues affecting the sector, such as the high cost of local production, which he said is 15 to 20 percent higher than in other parts of the world. This is partly due to the security burdens that oil and gas companies face, which increase their operational costs.
Osifo urged the government to assume responsibility for security in the oil and gas sector to reduce these costs significantly. Additionally, he called for stricter laws and harsher penalties for individuals involved in oil theft, emphasizing that tougher sanctions would deter criminal activities and promote integrity within the industry.
