All of the methanol-blend gasoline imported into Nigeria three weeks ago has been pulled from circulation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.
The NNPC also announced that daily shipments of clean gasoline are being delivered into the country to fill the void left by the removal of methanol blended gasoline.
According to the NNPC, the off-spec gasoline was brought into the country via four Premium Motor Spirit cargoes under the NNPC’s Direct Sales Direct Purchase agreement.
MRS imported the methanol blended gasoline on a vessel named MT Bow Pioneer, Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium on a vessel named MT Tom Hilde, Oando on a vessel named MT Elka Apollon, and Duke Oil on a vessel named MT Nord Gainer.
The product was acquired from International Trader, LITASCO, and delivered via MT Nord Gainer loaded at LITASCO’s Antwerp loading port terminal.
According to InsightnaijaTV, the NNPC instantly halted oil merchants from delivering the gasoline after the finding.
The NNPC stepped in to prevent the methanol-blend gasoline from reaching the filling stations.
The NNPC achieved this by ensuring that all ships suspected of containing methanol were quarantined.
Likewise, any cargo that had been discharged was quarantined, and all vehicles that had left the depots were followed and detained.
The NNPC has also refilled the depot with cleaner fuels and dispatched staff to inspect all filling stations to verify that no gasoline with high methanol is present.
In addition, the NNPC has increased its efforts to increase the supply of gasoline into the market in order to fill any supply gaps that may arise.
Stakeholders praised the NNPC’s efforts in halting the distribution of methanol-blend gasoline in the country.
For example, Dr Kayode Opeifa, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, stated the NNPC’s intervention in averting a major crisis that would have resulted if the full contaminated petroleum had entered the Nigerian market was timely.
He said, “This is what you would expect in this kind of situation.You quarantine the quantity, withdraw those in circulation and then begin investigation and that is the stage that I believe that we should be concerned with so that we don’t have damages beyond what we ‘ve had.
“To that effect, as someone in the transport sector with analytical chemistry background, I think so far for the public, that is adequate. The product is withdrawn.
“We need to be procedural in handling this matter. Vehicles are damaged but it’s not a matter that should be handled based on emotions. We need to get answers to how it happened.
“We have regulatory agencies and they have done the needful in terms of isolation, quarantine and restock.
“For the general public,what is important is that the product is no longer in the market
“Different countries have different specs but there is a minimum standard and that minimum standard is what NNPC is saying that this particular fuels fail to meet.
“It is not unusual to miss the specs on chemical analysis. It is not unusual to have product defects.You have heard of car recalls, air bag recalls when they have gotten to the market. So, the best thing is to ensure that appropriate protocols are used to address this issue.
“What I think is the good news out of this whole thing that happened is that it was detected early enough, it was withdrawn within limited time and the fuel supply chain is gradually coming back to normal.”
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