NMDPRA says its strategy help tackle fuel scarcity

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says its four-point strategy is responsible for restoring normalcy to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) distribution.

Ms Roselyn Wilkie, NMDPRA, Zone Operations Controller, Abuja, said this on Thursday in an interview with the Nigerian News Agency.

According to Wilkie, the increase in the supply and distribution of products are also important factors that ensured that the system returned to normal.

The zonal controller was reacting to the disappearance of long lines at gas stations throughout the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as in other parts of the country.

reports that the shortage, which lasted nearly two months, caused motorists to queue for eight hours and even days at service stations before being able to buy fuel.

Wilkie assured Nigerians that normalcy had returned, adding that motorists do not have to spend long hours in line to get the product.

He listed the strategy adopted to return normality to the system, which includes ensuring that there is no diversion of the product, hoarding, or sale in drums, and discouraging the itinerant sale of the product.

According to her, the regulatory authority also encouraged the dispensing of petroleum products with maximum pumps available at fuel stations.

On the risky activities of black dealers who extort money from people and risk lives and property, he said NMDPRA was working tirelessly to ensure that all roadside bin vendors of PMS were eradicated from the streets.

“Our primary concern is the ‘safety’ of lives and property, as we understand the volatile nature of gasoline and its dangers,” he said.

However, checkpoints around some of the main fuel stations in the Territory, including Conoil opposite the NNPC Towers, saw black market operators continue their business.

Motorists had blamed their activities, as well as the inability of authorities to do anything about their operations, for the fuel shortage that lasted for nearly two months. (NAN)