FG BANS 60,000-LITRE FUEL TANKERS FROM NIGERIAN ROADS FROM MARCH 1, DISMISSES CLAIMS ON FUEL QUALITY

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has announced a ban on 60,000-litre fuel tankers from operating on Nigerian roads, effective March 1, 2025 to mitigate truck-in-transit incidents.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Ogbugo Ukoha, NMDPRA Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure, said the decision was made in response to the increasing number of road accidents involving heavy-duty petroleum tankers.

”The first stakeholder’s technical committee met today to drill down and put timelines for about 10 resolutions that had been taken on how to drive down the significant increase that had been observed in relation to trucks and transit incidents and fatalities, ” he said.

According to him, following deliberations involving key agencies including the Department of State Services (DSS), Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), it was agreed that from March 1, 2025, any truck with an axle load of more than 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon will not be allowed to load at any depot.

”The important thing about this is that, for the first time, consensus was built amongst all stakeholders, and we’re continuing to encourage that we will work together cohesively to deliver a safe transportation of petroleum products across the country,” he said.

Ukoha dismissed recent claims questioning the quality of fuel in circulation across the country, describing them as bogus, misleading, and unscientific.

He assured Nigerians that all imported and locally refined petroleum products meet strict regulatory standards before being released into the market.

The regulator vowed to ensure compliance with petroleum industry standards and specifications, stressing that recent social media claims about the quality of fuel products in circulation are baseless and should be disregarded.

”The regulator would usually be more circumspect and not respond to every comment that is made in the public.

”But it’s important that people who dabble within the social media space are reminded that it is actually disrespectful, if you imagine that Nigerians are gullible.

”Innocent Nigerians are discerning enough to know that energies need to be directed positively. People who make unscientific claims, bogus data expertise are really not helping the situation.

”As a regulator, we’re working very hard in compliance with the presidential and statutory mandates we have to support the local refineries, to build capacity to the point that Nigerians will have sufficient products, and not just quality, but pricing is also done in a transparent, competitive and fair way.

”That’s the priority we have as the regulator, and that is what we concern ourselves with every day, ” he said.

Ukoha assured Nigerians that NMDPRA would continue to comply with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 as well as the specifications set by SON.

”The standard organization specification includes parameters such as the research obtain number, the sulfur content, the density, the color, the oxygenate level, and many other parameters that you find within that.

”Before any product is distributed in Nigeria, the regulator ensures that from the load port of the product, whether from a domestic refinery or imported from outside the country, and as well as at the discharge port, accredited laboratories must test every product and duly issue certificates of quality to say that the product that is in the in the vessel meets those specifications.

”It’s only on that basis that products are then discharged and distributed across the country,’’ he said.

Ukoha further explained that that hydrocarbons are not pure compounds by nature, and as such, the regularly specifications provide a range of acceptable values, and tests results must fall within these specified limits to be deemed complaint.

Regarding specific parameters, Ukoha noted that sulphur content must be moderated in products, as higher levels can have corrosive effects and contribute to environmental pollution.

He said Research Octane Number (RON) affects engine performance and efficiency, while oxygenate levels play a role in optimizing RON for better engine functionality.

He clarified that colour differentiation, while not impacting quality, is a regulatory requirement under SON specifications to prevent misidentification.

”The only color in the current specification that is colorless is the ATK. From the sighting of the product, it is for you to tell that this is PMS because it complies with the color, separate from an AGO.

”Just imagine if you were to put the wrong product without the color into the wrong vehicle or the wrong engine. So these are the back end processes the regulator concerns itself and what we prioritize. You must meet those specifications; otherwise we will not let those products be distributed, ” he said.

NMPDRA executive director also disclosed that daily Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) supply, which averaged 66 million liters before subsidy withdrawal, now hovers around 50 million liters, with local refineries contributing less than 50 per cent of total supply.

”All of us have experienced a yuletide free from any scarcity. Let me reconfirm that from year to year, we saw an increase in the demand of PMS by 2021, 2022 up to 2023 and just before the current administration came in, the daily PMS supply sufficiency was always in excess of 60 million, averaging about 66 million a day for PMS.

”Following the President’s withdrawal of subsidy, the announcement on May 29 2023 we immediately saw a steep decline on consumption and between then and as we speak, we’ve continued to do plus or minus 50 million that’s considerable reduction in volumes.

”Of these 50 million liters, averaging for each day, less than 50 per cent of that is contributed by domestic refinement and so the shortfall, in accordance with the PIA, is sourced by way of imports.

”Let me also say that none of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), that own refineries in country, have imported any PMS this year.

”The other OMCs are the ones that are importing the shortfall, and if we did nothing to meet to bridge that shortfall, we will have scarcity in our hands, and that’s something that the regulator is minded to do, ensuring that there is sufficient supply of petroleum products across the country.

”So just for clarity, the contribution of local refineries towards the sufficiency is less than 50 per cent currently between January and February 2025 is less than 50 per cent of what we require daily, and that shortfall is sourced by way of imports,” he said.