The Rivers State Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has given reasons for the persistent fuel scarcity across the state.
The explanation follows an earlier announcement by the ministry that a petrol laden vessel arrived at the Port Harcourt depot last week Thursday.
But despite the announcement, the scarcity has persisted across the state creating long vehicular queues in most filling stations.
As of Tuesday, some filling stations sold fuel at the rate of N220 per litre.
Giving reasons for the continued scarcity, the Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources Doctor Peter Medee said the delay was because of an “integrity test that was to be conducted” in the pipelines to determine that the new product is not bad fuel.
Medee said “mind you there has not been fuel for a long time, so they have to conduct an integrity test on the lines to check that there are no leakages.
“So that integrity test took some time and by the weekend they succeeded in discharging.
“As they have completed discharge, what they are doing now is to sample the product to the lab to test and to ensure that what was brought in is not bad fuel.
“Once the result comes back and the fuel is ok, loading will start”.
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