Yes Yes I know, you are stunned that I am actually posting a mere week after my previous post. Well I guess you'll just have to get over the shock. Also I am also doing a current affairs post. One of those hasn't graced these pages in a while.

For those of you that don't know, there has been fuel scarcity in Nigeria for the past ten days or so. After ten days you are not quite desparate enough to buy from people standing on the road randomly, but you're getting close. Though I would avow that the most onerous side effect of the fuel scarcity is that access to Ikoyi Club is severly curtailed due to the club sharing the same road as an NNPC depot.

Well as someone who just got a full tank of petrol today, I am above such petty concerns :D. This allows me to focus and bring to you, my dear reader, the origins of the fuel crisis:

Aiight so about two weeks ago there were rumblings of a spat between Mobil and NUPENG, the main industry union. It seems that Mobil was dumb enough to contemplate sacking twenty odd workers. Not only that, 4 of the workers were sitting members of the NUPENG executive council. Obviously NUPENG went on strike - btw I blame Babangida for NUPENG's readiness to strike. If not for June 12, NUPENG wouldn't have realised that it has the power to bring the country to its knees. Anyway history lesson done, after the inevitable horse trading, Mobil didn't fire the four people and NUPENG called off the prospective strike.

Now dear reader I know you are wondering, if the almighty NUPENG did not go on strike, why oh why is there fuel scarcity. Well I suppose you have Oando to thank for that. About six weeks ago the firm was responsible for bringing in petrol with a high ethanol contend. The adulturated petrol made the rounds and caused a few engines to knock. Oando typically washed its hands of the entire affair, saying that no tests (its or the government's) identified the ethanol and so it could not be blamed.

I remember an industry friend telling me at the time that all the petrol importers bring in fuel mixed with ethanol, that the Oando cargo was just not blended properly. Well it turns out that my friend was right. The current fuel scarcity was as a result of the love the importers have for ethanol mixed fuel.

DPR has mandated an ethanol content of 5% in petrol cargos shipped to Nigeria and a lot of the shipments coming in do not meet that criteria. The funny thing is that the importers are now saying that what obtains world wide is 10% ethanol content in petrol and so DPR should allow the ships to land seeing as they meet that requirement.

Leaving aside the absurdity of the operators arbitrarily deciding not to adhere to the regulations, you got to love the fact that the importers that were a mere six weeks ago all saying that they did not import fuel blended with ethanol are now loudly demanding to be allowed to do so.

So we will watch this drama play out, while the guys with the clear jerry cans on the road continue to look more and more appealing.