BY MOVINCE ODUOR
Nigeria Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has confirmed it will destroy 1.5 million liters of contaminated petroleum products which resulted from a discharge by a vessel at the Nakem Jetty depot in Kirikiri, Lagos.
Department of Petroleum Resources Director Mordecai Ladan said the vessel involved-MT JAZI had not been authorized to operate and lacked importation license, thereby leading to its destruction as an warning to deter similar occurrences from happening in the future. “We will not tolerate landing of untraceable products without the import permit, port of origin and manufacture source into our depots. Our actions are to forestall all the flow of adulterated product into the retail outlets’” Mordecai said.
Contaminated petroleum product in oil barrels. (Image: courtesy)
According to Mordecai, the petroleum body has deployed mechanisms in a bid to guarantee that no adulterated or sub-standard petrol product from Niger Delta comes into any of their deposits. Samples of the products derived from vessel MT JAZI were taken through a series of intense laboratory analysis to ascertain whether the products had been contaminated. “Having failed on all the basic parameters especially in color, special gravity and flash point showed the product being docked at Nakem does not meet the standard specifications of any white product,” Mordecai added.
Motorists queuing at a petrol station.
Mordecai said instances of petrol contamination are not only pegged on illegal vessels that spill dangerous substances on their depots. “Most of these depot activities are also naval activities and we do not have the experience to arrest vessels,” he said. “We have scheduled to feed the Navy with vessels supposed to route along their water.” The petroleum body has beefed up security at its depots since February 12, 2017 to ensure all vessels adhere to the stringent rules and regulations before docking at the port.
