Petrol Scarcity Looms as NNPCL Faces $6 Billion Debt

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has admitted that it might struggle to keep supplying petrol because it owes about $6 billion. This announcement followed reports that suppliers are wary of providing petrol because of NNPCL’s large debts.

Because of these money problems, NNPCL has had to ration the petrol it has and ask big suppliers to keep providing fuel despite the challenges.

Recently, a major supplier revealed that five ships meant to bring petrol to Nigeria did not deliver their cargo because they were worried they wouldn’t get paid. Even after the government gave NNPCL $300 million to help, this amount wasn’t enough to solve the problem.

Impact on Consumers and Government Response

Yesterday, only a few petrol stations had petrol, causing long lines of cars in cities like Lagos and Abuja. Independent sellers have raised the price of petrol, charging as much as N950 per liter in some parts of Lagos and even more in other areas.

Olufemi Soneye, who speaks for NNPCL, stated the company is doing its best to keep petrol flowing across the country, according to the law. He also mentioned that in the oil business, it’s normal to have some unpaid bills at times.

However, the shortage has gotten so bad that there haven’t been any large shipments of petrol to storage depots in the last five days, leading to more shortages.

An industry expert noted that the recent lack of petrol is mostly because suppliers who are owed money have reduced their deliveries. The government is trying to keep petrol prices low for people, but this means NNPCL is losing money every time it brings in petrol.

Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum, has said that NNPCL needs to change how it prices petrol to help stop smuggling and to make the company more financially stable. He also talked about the problems with Nigeria’s old pipelines, which are easy targets for theft and are harming the country’s oil income.

In light of these issues, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the government to list NNPCL’s shares on the stock market. He believes this will make the company more transparent, well-managed, and profitable, following the rules set by the Petroleum Industry Act.