The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is backing oil marketers, denying claims that they are importing substandard and dirty fuel into Nigeria.
The Authority asked Nigerians not to panic over the dirty fuel allegations made by the Dangote Refinery.
The development comes as fuel marketers, under the aegis of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), also denied importing dirty petroleum products into Nigeria.
Reports say NMDPRA’s executive director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure Ogbugo Ukoha, disclosed that the sulfur content in the fuel this June was within the lawful limit.
He revealed that the NMDPRA met with marketers and refiners to ensure a level playing field between import marketers and local refiners and to ensure supply stability within a stable price regime.
According to reports, he stated that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) endorsed a declaration in 2020 adopting the African Fuel Roadmap, requiring that certain products have a minimum of 50PPM per million litres of sulfur.
The NMDPRA said that while it encourages immediate enforcement of imports to comply with standards, the same treaty deferred enforcement for local refiners until December 31, 2024.
The petroleum marketers said the Dangote Refinery claims are inaccurate. They stated that the new refineries are built with a plant sulfurisation limit, which will reduce it to 10PPM.
TheNGblog earlier reported that the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, has revealed that the Nigerian Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) ‘s indiscriminate licensing of oil marketers is allowing the import of dirty diesel and aviation fuel into Nigeria. Edwin disclosed this during an interaction with a group of Energy Editors at a one-day training programme organized by the Dangote Group.
He said the NMDPRA continues to license marketers to import banned refined petroleum products from other countries into Nigeria.
Edwin said that despite Dangote’s efforts to meet ECOWAS standards, NMDPRA grants marketers licenses to import high-sulfur petrol from Russia into Nigeria.
He disclosed that since the US and UK issued a cap on Russia’s petroleum products, the products are now being dumped in Nigeria’s market
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