Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, has unveiled the importers of the recent substandard Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol.
He said the defaulting suppliers have been put on notice for remedial actions and NNPC was collaborating with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, NMDRA, to take appropriate steps in line with subsisting regulations.
Kyari said the NNPC received a report from its quality inspector on the presence of emulsion particles in PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp-Belgium on January 20, 2022, and a probe indicated the presence of Methanol in four PMS cargoes imported by the following Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) suppliers as listed in the table below.
He named the suppliers as:
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
While noting that the cargoes’ quality certificates issued at loadport (Antwerp-Belgium) by AmSpec Belgium indicated that the gasoline complied with Nigerian Specification, Kyari said “The NNPC quality inspectors including GMO, SGS, GeoChem and G&G conducted tests before discharge also showed that the gasoline met Nigerian specification”.
He explained 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’’.
Kyari however said in order to prevent the distribution of the petrol, the NNPC promptly ordered the quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes and the holding back of all the affected products in transit (both truck & marine).
He reassured Nigerians of the NNPC’s capacity to restore sanity in the supply and distribution of quality petrol across the country within a short period.
Kyari made the pledge at a meeting with some oil marketers to resolve the issues generated by the recent supply and discharge of toxic petrol in some Nigerian depots.
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