Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is vexed over the complexity and in a state of quandary as the drama of foul fuel from its supply chain brings the entire downstream petroleum industry into a state of perplexity.
The perplexing problem has pushed the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Company, Mr. Mele Kyari, to flay talks about the existence of sub-standard fuel in the country.
Kyari, described it as unfortunate drama and bad marketing practice as he fielded questions at a fireside chat during the 60th Nigeria Mining & Geosciences Society (NMGS) Conference in Abuja.
The GCEO, said the NNPC Ltd, and indeed the country does not have any issues of quality in the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol across the country.
“The talk around fuel quality is unfortunate and a very bad marketing practice. It’s all drama and entertainment and as we know, drama has a way of entertaining the people,” Kyari stated.
He said Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) has quality standards which are obtainable in every country and there are no two countries that have the same standards.
Kyari said in Europe, oxygenate (a fuel additive) has to be introduced into PMS otherwise it will solidify the tank in people’s cars.
But if the same fuel additive is introduced into cars in Nigeria, it turns to water once it gets into contact with air. In essence, Kyari said, what is required by law to be introduced in one country, it is also required by law not to be introduced in another country.
He added that in the case of Nigeria, the country has standard regulatory agencies such as the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA), whose job is to ensure that every product that comes into this country meets the required products specifications and standards.
“I believe these regulatory agencies are doing their job. They have not come back to tell anyone that we have substandard products in the country,” Kyari told the audience.
He said the Company has already taken the necessary legal and security steps to ensure that people (behind such video) don’t mess up the country, adding that the implications of such acts are not only on NNPC Ltd anymore but more about messing up the whole country.
Kyari, who maintained that people can have their frustrations, cautioned that
falsehood should never be extended into business.
The GCEO also debunked reports claiming that NNPC Ltd has imported 200million litres of fuel in February this year.
“These are just lies, because we didn’t even import products within that window
that the report was published. All the mischief about aligning this fictitious
importation with the so-called low-quality fuel are just baseless,” he stated.
He explained that importation is a normal practice in the Industry, as every country imports petroleum products, including the United States. He said Nigeria has supplied petroleum products to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which doesn’t mean that there are no refineries in those countries.
Kyari charged members of the Nigerian Mining & Geosciences Society (NMGS) to embrace new technologies and foster a culture of continuous improvement in order to maximise the nation’s natural resources and generate more revenue for the country.
The Conference, which has as its theme “Transformation of the Mineral, Energy,
Water, and Construction Sectors through Innovation”, focused on conversations
around mining industry reforms, policy enhancements, and broader public
appreciation of geoscience’s role in national development.