Nigeria fuel crisis Whalla : Why is Africa's largest oil producer short of petrol?

Despite being one of the world's biggest oil producers, Nigeria imports most of its fuel and is currently facing a severe shortage.

It does not have enough oil refineries and even if the four it has were running at full capacity, they would only supply a quarter of the country's needs,.To meet demands, the national oil company imports around 50% of its fuel needs. The remainder is then supposed to be imported by private fuel distributors.

But for months these companies have been reducing their imports leading to the current fuel shortages.For years, the Nigerian government paid a fuel subsidy to make it cheaper at the pump. But it was hugely expensive when the price of oil was high.

The current government, which came to power last May, said it inherited massive debts from the previous administration.Fuel distributors were initially left out of pocket.Finally, the government paid the bill in November. But by that time, companies had already started slowing fuel imports.

As the shortages increased, others hiked their prices above the official government rate - leading to accusations of profiteering.Some analysts predict that until the fuel subsidy is reintroduced or official retail rates are allowed to rise, distributors will continue to limit the supply. And for Nigerian motorists that could mean the long wait at the pumps will go on.