Fuel scarcity has hit Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, following the strike declared by workers in oil and gas industry over the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery by the Federal Government.
The aggrieved workers are protesting the disposal of government�s 51 per cent equity in the refinery to a Nigerian firm with no experience in refinery management, and the insensitivity of the administration to their plight.
The workers have been on strike since last Thursday and are not willing to allow normal operations to resume because of government�s refusal to yield to their demands.
A meeting called by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers in Lagos on Monday on the issue, asked the workers to continue with the strike until further notice.
A source at the meeting told our correspondent that the strike would continue until decision on the controversial sale of the refinery was rescinded and the workers� welfare taken care of by the management of the refinery.
The Central Working Committee meeting of the PENGASSAN is however yet to meet with the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which manages the refinery and its subsidiaries.
As a result of the workers� strike, loading of trucks was hindered, making the supply of petroleum products to consumers difficult.
For instance, only a handful of over 100 filling stations in Port Harcourt had products to sell while the rest were shut.
Long queues of vehicles angling for petrol pervaded major streets of the city while fuel hawkers had a field day dispensing petrol at high prices.
Although most filling stations claimed they did not have products, the hawkers �erected� their sales points near most of the filling stations and made brisk business.
One of them sold a litre of petrol for N150 instead of the normal N65.
Most private filling stations that were not selling fuel when the supply was normal were the ones selling to motorists at between N100 and N120 per litre in many parts of the state.