Olusola Bello
Ordinarily, before a vessel is allowed to discharge its content at the jetties it must have undergone a series of tests in addition to the quality certificate it brings from its place of origin certifying that the product is fit and proper for use.
By industry standards, any vessel which brings product to the country is subjected to a series of tests in at least six different points before it is eventually released to the public, according to industry sources
The first point is at the country of origin where the product has been certified as good for use. This is proved by the quality certificate that accompanies it.
The second stage is that when the vessel arrives in the Nigerian waters another test is carried out by Nigerian officials, and when it is now moved to Atlas Cove, a very strategic jetty in Lagos, which is owned by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, it is also subjected another test. Before any lighting operation is carried out because of the size of the vessel another test is carried out.
At the jetties, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which is now subsumed under the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority also does it own test of the product again.
The final stage of testing is the one that is normally carried out by companies themselves after receiving the product.
But in this case, NNPC through their trading arm Duke Oil, supplied a cargo of PMS purchased from international trader Litasco and delivered it with Motor Tanker (MT) Nord Gainer. Unfortunately, the product was discovered to have been contaminated by 20 percent methanol.
The fact is, Methanol is not part of the component of fuel that comes to Nigeria and it may not have been imagined someone would bring it in, an industry source said.
This vessel was discharged in Apapa between the 24 and 30 of January 2022 and the following major marketers with receiving quantities were the recipients of the product: OVH 10,000 mt MRS 5,000 mt NIPCO 5,958 mt ARDOVA 6,000 mt TOTAL 10,000 mt
TotalEnergies one of the companies that have the best quality assurance records was said to have detected the anomaly and then alert other companies.
Ordinarily, if you test for Methanol in products that are brought to Nigeria you would not find it, even though they contain it most times but is it very insignificant in the fuel. Just about 5%.
The product analysis revealed that the PMS discharged by MT Nord Ganier had 20% methanol, which is an illegal substance in Nigeria.
It was at this point that the NNPC, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority were said to have been notified.
Consequent to the information they received, the executive secretary of the Authority, Farouk Ahmed and the managing director of Pipelines and Products Marketing Company PPMC, a subsidiary of NNPC came to Lagos last week at different times and had meetings with some of the affected companies.
Some Stakeholders have described the incident as a gross dereliction of duty on the part of all the government agencies and that the government should sanction them.
But some others said the importer may have played a fast one on the NNPC and others simply because methanol is never a component contemplated to be part of fuel brought to Nigeria.
“Normally we don’t test for methanol because it is not part of the items we test for because Nigeria does not use. But the importer for reasons best known to him decided to bring it in and put everyone on the edge”, an industry operator told BusinessStandards.
Meanwhile, MRS has denied that it was the one that imported the product.
It stated: “We want to reassure the public and all relevant authorities, that “MRS” is a responsible corporate citizen and will not be involved in the purchase, importation, distribution or marketing of substandard petroleum products in Nigeria. It is, therefore, necessary that any Media, reporting this false information which has resulted in the defamation of the Company’s brand and image, must immediately refrain from doing so and endeavor to check the facts before printing unauthenticated information and statements, which would affect the goodwill of the Company and the investing public.”
“For this reason, the Management of MRS writes to inform the public of the facts which has resulted in product scarcity in the country: Due to current subsidy regime, NNPC is the sole supplier of all PMS in Nigeria.”
Consequently, NNPC through their trading arm Duke Oil, supplied a cargo of PMS purchased from international trader Litasco and delivered it with Motor Tanker (MT) Nord Gainer.
As one of the beneficiaries, MRS received the product in its depot and distributed the product to only 8 of its stations in Lagos.
