The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has cautioned residents of Rivers State against panic buying of petroleum products, saying that there are about 107 million litres of petroleum products stocked in various depots in Port Harcourt to meet consumers’ demand even if the COVID-19 pandemic lingers.
The agency’s Head, Downstream Monitoring and Regulations, Engr. Anthony Oyom, who spoke with our reporter in Port Harcourt on Wednesday on the sidelines of DPR monitoring of petroleum products depots in Port Harcourt said that the 107 million litres of petrol and diesel will take care of consumers demand should the country become totally lockdown.
“We visited various petroleum products depots in Port Harcourt, first, to ensure that there is enough stock of fuel to meet the demand of residents of the state in anticipated total lockdown across the country as a result of COVID19.
We were also at the depots to ensure total compliance by depot owners about the new price regime of the petroleum products as was announced by the federal government” “Our aim is to make sure that where the products are being lifted are selling at the right price because if the depot gives them at the right price the marketers will definitely sell at the right price but if they cannot get at the right price at the depots they will not be able to sell at the right. The Ex-depot price is N113.28 per litre and the retail outlets are expected to sell at N125 per litre”
“We have about 107 million litres of petroleum products stocked in various depots such as TSL, Conoil, Stopgap, Liquid Bulk and Masters and total stock will be enough to take care of our local demand”, Oyom assured.
