More facts have emerged on how
adulterated fuel was imported into Nigeria by some oil marketers.
According to the Chief Executive
Officer/ Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, some oil marketers imported methanol blended petrol in some Nigerian
depots.
Kyari emphasized that defaulting
suppliers have been put on notice for remedial actions and NNPC is working with
the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA) to take
necessary actions in line with subsisting regulations.
Providing a graphic chronicle of
the unfortunate incident, the NNPC CEO said that on 20th January 2022, the
company received a report from its quality inspector on the presence of emulsion
particles in PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp-Belgium.
He explained that NNPC
investigation revealed the presence of Methanol in four PMS cargoes imported by
the following Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) suppliers as listed in the
table below.
Importer Vessel Name Load Port
1 MRS —
MT Bow Pioneer — LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium
2 Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U
Consortium —- MT Tom Hilde —- LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium
3 Oando — MT Elka Apollon —
LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium
4 Duke Oil —–
MT Nord Gainer —-LITASCO
Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium
He noted that cargoes quality
certificates issued at loadport (Antwerp-Belgium) by AmSpec Belgium indicated
that the gasoline complied with Nigerian Specification.
“The NNPC quality inspectors
including GMO, SGS, GeoChem and G&G conducted tests before discharge also
showed that the gasoline met Nigerian specification,’’ he said.
Kyari noted that as a standard practice
for all PMS import to Nigeria, the said cargoes were equally certified by
inspection agent appointed by the NMDRA.
“It is important to note that the
usual quality inspection protocol employed in both the load port in Belgium and
our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for Percent methanol
content and therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors’’
he stated . .
However, in order to prevent the
distribution of the petrol, the NNPC CEO said the company promptly ordered the
quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes and the holding back of all the affected
products in transit (both truck & marine)
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