Unending Fuel Palava: Petrol Sells At Black Market Rates

Scarcity of petrol has worsened across the country with filling stations now selling the product at black market rates of between N110 and N250 per litre, investigations by our reporters revealed.
Long queues by motorists were observed at filling stations that sell fuel at the official rate of N97 while most major marketers have shut their stations due to lack of products.
In Lagos, filling stations now sale fuel between N110 and N140 per litre.
At Oando filling station, Seliat bus stop, petrol sold for N110 per litre, while other independent petroleum filling stations sold for N120 and N130 per litre.
In some of the stations dispensing fuel, customers were being forced to bribe attendants with N200 to jump long queues.
In Kano city, fuel was not available in most filling stations visited by our correspondent, a situation that forced motorists to drive long distances from the capital in search of petrol.
A litre of petroleum product was being sold between N130 to N140 per litre at few filling stations located out of town.
Some motorists told Daily Trust that they purchased 20 litres of the commodity from roadside black market at the rate of N3, 600.
Most fuel stations in Kaduna have been turned into black markets as petrol now sells at N120 and N160 per litre depending on location.
Daily Trust checks reveal that in most of the fuel stations, though the official rate of N97 per liter is on the display board, marketers have hiked the price.
In Akure, many private filling stations were selling products above N100 per litre to customers.
Some of the few stations opened to customers in Akure sell for N120 per litre.
In Jalingo, the product now sells at N250 per litre in the black market. Our reporter who went round the town observed that most filling stations were closed with only one station dispensing at N130 per litre.
In Katsina, most of the major marketers' filling stations were shut.
The commodity was only available at filling stations owned by independent marketers and is sold between N135 and N140 per liter.
Auwal Musa a fuel hawker along Jibia road told Daily Trust that they imported the commodity from the neighbouring Niger Republic.
In Sokoto, most of the independent marketers also sell petrol at N135 per litre.
Most major marketers in the metropolis were not selling the commodity.
Also, at time Daily Trust visited the NNPC mega station, it was not selling petrol.
The black marketers sell the product between N700 and 750 per gallon.
Also in Bauchi, fuel marketers have increased pump price to N135 per litre.
In Abeokuta, motorists now buy petrol at N140 against the official price of N97 per litre.
In Calabar, fuel scarcity has led to increase in oil bunkering and illegal refineries.
In Damaturu, all petrol stations have been shut for lack of fuel while black market operators were nowhere to be found.
Daily Trust gathered that in the last two days a four litre gallon of petrol sold at N900 at the black market.
In Makurdi, a litre of the petrol sells for between N125 and N130 in filling stations.
As motorists spend long hours trying to get the product, black marketers were having a field day, selling at between N150 and N200 per litre.
In Jos, prices at black market rose from between N600 and N650 per gallon (4 litres) to between N750 and N800 while the very few independent retail marketing petrol stations which had stock yesterday were selling at between N125 and N130 per litre.
Reacting, spokeswoman for the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mrs Belema Osibodu, said the agency was doing its best to curtail the hike in pump price of fuel.
She said DPR was aware of the situation in some of the states and that the agency would dispatch its monitoring and supervision team.