TheCable

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Benue has blamed the ongoing fuel scarcity in the state on inadequate supply of products from the NNPC depots.

Benjamin Ewuga, controller of DPR in the state, told NAN that the depots were supplying 36 trucks instead of 33000 trucks meant for the state.

“NNPC now supplies 1.221 million litres of PMS representing 36 trucks of fuel as against the expected 4.393 million liters of PMS representing 33,000 trucks to be shared between Benue and Nasarawa,” he said.

He said owing to the inadequate supply, most independent marketers were buying from independent sources at higher prices which made enforcement of pump price difficult.

Ewuga explained that with the strict enforcement of the new pump price of N86.50, most marketers preferred not to order fresh supplies as it was no longer economically expedient to do so.

He denied that marketers were hoarding the product to sell to black marketers, saying the department was carrying out its duties in the state.

He expressed disappointment that the scarcity was biting harder when the federal government was expecting vessels of petroleum products to arrive in the country.