……..House of Reps commence investigation
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has absolved self from any complicity in the importation of the methanol laden petrol causing crises in the distribution channels nationwide.
The national oil company also said there was no way it would have detected the methanol unless the suppliers graciously informs Nigeria ahead of time.
Briefing members of the Nigeria’s House Committee on petroleum (Downstream), the group managing director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said the toxic petrol situation came about as a result of the discovery of methanol in the PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria under the subsisting commercial contract operated by NNPC and its partners. According to him, the reason why tests did not reveal methanol presence was because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.
“There is no way we could have known about the methanol presence. The only way we could have known about it is if our suppliers, in good faith, made the disclosure to us.
“In this particular instance, the discovery was made by our inspection agents who noticed the emulsification at the filling stations and brought it to our attention. Subsequent investigation revealed that the four cargoes which are all from the same source also contained methanol-blended PMS,” the CEO added.
He said NNPC then moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine same.
While assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, the NNPC CEO said the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1billion liters of methanol-free PMS to ensure the queues vanish in few days.
He pledged that NNPC would co-operate with the Committee and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to get to the root of the matter.
The NNPC CEO also expressed deep empathy with Nigerians on the current situation and assured that adequate measures have been put in place to maintain supply sufficiency and prevent future occurrence.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has also assured that it is digging into the matter with the view to fathoming circumstances surrounding the presence of the methanol in the petrol in question.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya said his Committee will handle firms involved in the importation of the methanol-blended petrol into Nigeria and ensure that they are sanctioned appropriately.
By Chidi Ekpewerechi, Abuja
Be the first to know when we publish an update
