Festus Osifo, President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has attributed the persistent fuel queues at filling stations nationwide to weak and outdated distribution chains. Speaking at the ongoing 2024 PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit (PEALS 2024) in Abuja, Osifo emphasized that Nigeria’s current distribution infrastructure in the downstream oil and gas sector is insufficient to meet the demands of its large population.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s dependence on a single point of product importation, coupled with the use of trucks for nationwide distribution, is inadequate for a country of its size. Osifo also noted that bad roads and flooding further worsen the already insufficient fuel supply, leading to repeated shortages.
Osifo called for urgent reforms to modernize and strengthen the country’s value chain, stressing the importance of developing a more efficient and reliable distribution system. Without these improvements, he warned that the country would continue to experience recurring fuel shortages.
He also discussed other challenges within the sector, including the high cost of local production, which he said is 15 to 20 percent higher than in other parts of the world. This increase in costs is partly due to the burden of security that oil and gas companies must bear.
Osifo urged the government to take over security responsibilities in the sector to significantly reduce production costs. He also called for stricter laws and harsher penalties against those involved in oil theft to deter criminal activities and encourage integrity within the industry.