Substandard Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, recently imported into Nigeria which eventual discovery triggered the current petrol scarcity particularly in Abuja and Lagos, has been identified, isolated and quarantined, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said on Wednesday.
The downstream petroleum regulatory agency said it was working round the clock with other stakeholders to address the issue of substandard PMS, also known as petrol, imported into the country.
NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, said the imported PMS was discovered to contain methanol above the specified volume and a technical team comprising stakeholders was working towards resolving the anomaly.
“Today, I am happy to say that loading has been going on in most of the depots because we have been able to identify, isolate and quarantine the limited amount of gasoline that was affected by the methanol volume that was discovered”, Ahmed announced at a meeting with downstream industry stakeholders on Wednesday in Lagos.
The meeting had in attendance top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN).
“We have vessels that have arrived the country recently. At least six arrived in the last few days ordered by the NNPC carrying a total volume of close to 300 million litres to close the gap created by those vessels we have withdrawn from the system.
“All in all, as at today, we have about 20 days sufficiency of PMS in the country. Our ideal day of sufficiency is 30 but the withdrawal of the vessel created the gap in our 30 days sufficiency”, Ahmed explained.
He noted that “Again, with aggressive importation by the NNPC, this will be closed in a few days from the data we got from the NNPC’s import programme.
“Loading is also ongoing in most of the depots that have confirmed spec products so there is no need for panic. Hopefully by tomorrow or early Friday, Lagos will be cleared.”
Ahmed gave assurance that a 9,000MT vessel is set to discharge at the Apapa Port in Lagos and would be provide PMS to major marketers including OVH Energy, TotalEnergies, 11 Plc, Con Oil and Ardova Plc.
According to him, there were also vessels on ground to supply products to DAPPMAN members while the technical team would continue to work on how to salvage the withdrawn products in their depots.
