(Ecofin Agency) - The fuel scarcity situation in Nigeria is expected to worsen especially in Lagos as technical faults have made the Satelite Depot to shut down.

The depot which shut down over the weekend has affected efforts to distribute fuel in Lagos.

“As I speak with you now, the depot is not functional, it broke down a few days ago worsening distribution efforts of marketers,” Alamu Ayo, Chairman Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Satelite Depot told Leadership news.

He noted that the Satelite and Apapa depots are the major products holding facilities for the South West but none of them had the product as at last week.

“I want to specifically tell you that throughout last week, combined capacity of the two depots were in no way able to serve Lagos. We (Marketers) the whole of last week were given between 6-8 trucks daily as against 102-105 trucks in the past. If we maintain that tempo, we will not have this long queues in Lagos, but the truth about the matter is that there is no product, and we are at the moment rationing what we have,” he said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had said that an overall 1,082 trucks of petrol were allocated all through the country on Friday but still the country is grappling with severe shortage of the products.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has said that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have begun operation producing 5 million and 2 million litres of petrol aimed at easing the fuel crisis in the country.

Anita Fatunji