The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya has assured Nigerians that his Committee would handle companies who imported methanol-blended Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into the country.
The Chairman who stated this while responding to a question from one of the Committee members also met with the Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) organised by the Committee on the current fuel situation in the country.
*We’ll Handle Erring PMS Suppliers, House Committee Tells Nigerians* *…As NNPC CEO Assures Fuel Queues Will Vanish in Few Days* pic.twitter.com/fEi83GIoCV
— NNPCLimited (@NNPCgroup) February 16, 2022
While briefing the Committee, the NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Mallam Mele Kyari explained that the 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.
In a statement issued by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Garba Deen Mohamed, the GMD explained that tests did not reveal methanol presence because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.
“We are a law-abiding company. 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 GMD added.
He said NNPC then moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine the same.
While assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, Kyari said the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1 billion litres of methanol-free PMS to ensure the queues vanish in a 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 GMD 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.
PIAK
