Oil-rich Nigeria’s main cities were facing acute petrol shortages as importers felt the pinch of a plummeting local currency, tighter credit lines and unpaid government subsidies, oil traders and local industry sources said this week.
As queues of double-parked cars stretch outside filling stations in Abuja, empty tanks elsewhere are forcing consumers on to the black market just weeks before presidential elections.
Nigeria exports around 2 million barrels a day of crude oil but is almost wholly reliant on imports for the 40 million litres a day of petrol it consumes.
Nigeria’s state oil company tried to reduce panic buying on Friday by announcing additional supplies but to little avail.
Reuters