At a time Nigerians are expecting respite from the pangs of the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, has dashed their hopes, stating that the current queues at gas stations would persist till late May.
The minister, who doubles as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, added that he was not a magician to make the queues disappear overnight.
According to him, it is even a “magic” that the stations are still getting volume of products they dispense to the public, judging from the prevailing circumstances at NNPC. The minister also revealed that NNPC’s import rates had moved form 50 per cent to all-time rate of 100 percent, saying the 445,000 barrels allocated to crude swap now service 50 to 55 per cent importation of refined product.
But giving a glimmer of hope on how to achieve lasting solution to the product scarcity, Kachikwu said government was working to beef up the reserves. He stated 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.
The minister was fielded questions from State House correspondents after leading officials of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, NUPENG, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, to a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,yesterday.
Vanguard News
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