Oil marketers have started blending the over 100 million litres of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit with new ones.
The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, has revealed.
The adulterated petrol imported into Nigeria over two weeks ago, had damaged vehicles of many motorists across the country, leading the Federal Government to stop it sale.
Consequently, the government instructed that the adulterated petrol be withdrawn, but as at the time of filing this report, filling stations still have the old stocks.
With imports of clean refined petrol, the retailers who still have old stock were confused and left with no option have started mixing the bad one with the good one.
Ukadike said with the government not withdrawing the foul petrol, some retailers in Lagos had started blending the adulterated PMS with clean fuel.
Ukadike said, “I also want to tell you that in our members’ filling stations, some of the ones I know in Port Harcourt, Ichie and Obigbo in Rivers State, as well as a few in Abuja, I have their names and numbers, the (adulterated) products are still in their tanks now.
“And they have been running helter-skelter to see whether they will be able to get fresh products to blend the ones in their tanks and push all of it out to the public.
“This is because we got information that some of our members who are in Lagos are bringing in fresh products to blend with the contaminated ones and neutralise the sulphur and methanol.”
Ukadike, however, noted that many filling stations had yet to get new supplies that were enough to blend the adulterated products in their tanks.
“But unfortunately up till now they (filling stations) have not got new supplies and that is one of the basic reasons for the scarcity you see here and there across the country,” he stated.
On whether marketers have the capacity or equipment to blend the adulterated products with clean fuel, Ukadike replied that they were ready to try it, since the NNPC had yet to recall the products.
He said, “The NNPC has a blending plant which could have done this thing clinically and make it more appropriate. But we have waited for weeks now and nothing has been done.
“You know, we don’t have testing machines, so marketers just want to do this permutation, considering the huge amount spent on the purchase of the products and in order to help to address petrol scarcity.”
The scarcity of petrol persisted in Abuja and neighbouring states on Tuesday, as Ukadike said the situation was also pronounced in many states.
