The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says petrol, with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification, was discovered in the supply chain.
The authority disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday which confirmed concerns by Nigerians and other stakeholders over the importation of crude above Nigeria’s grade to the market.
Oil marketers estimated that about 100 million litres of contaminated petrol were imported into Nigeria and had been recalled by the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the NNPC.
This has caused scarcity as severe queues were seen in Abuja, Lagos, Niger, Nasarawa and many other states, as the few petrol outlets that dispensed products were crowded by motorists and other
users.
The NMDPRA said methanol was a regular additive in petrol and usually blended in an acceptable quantity, adding that contaminated product had been isolated.
The statement read in part, “To ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit
“Our technical team in conjunction with the NNPC Limited and other industry stakeholders, will continue to monitor and ensure quality petroleum products are adequately supplied and distributed nationwide.
“The source supplier has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the authority and the NNPC Limited. The NNPC Limited and all oil marketing companies have been directed to sustain sufficient distribution of petrol in all retail outlets nationwide.”
The NMDPRA further stated that the NNPC had intensified efforts at increasing the supply of petrol into the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap.
