Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has asked the relevant authorities to hold the Department of Petroleum Resources accountable for the adulterated kerosene in circulation in the country through private depot. In a statement issued by the NNPC in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, at a two-day Investigative Public Hearing of the House of Representative Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream),
Meanwhile the average price per litre paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 8.01 per cent month-on- month and by 30.49 per cent year-on-year to N303.29 in May 2017 from N280.80 in April 2017 according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. It said that the States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene were Anambra (N334.52), Kwara (N323.81) and Bauchi (321.67). NBS further said that the States with the lowest average price per litre of kerosene were Osun (N273.96), Oyo (N271.15) and Sokoto (N261.90).
NBS also said “Similarly, average price per gallon paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene decreased by 10.10 per cent month-on-month and increased by 45.11 per cent year-on-year to N1,036.71 in May 2017 from N1,153.12 in April 2017
However, Mr. Maikanti Baru urged the House of Representatives’ committee to contact the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, which is the petroleum industry regulator, to investigate the source of adulterated kerosene among the private depots in the country. He called on the National Assembly enact laws to empower the DPR to carry out its responsibilities more diligently by ensuring that petroleum products imported by marketers meet the required quality and safety standards as NNPC cannot guarantee the quality of products imported by other market players.
He said “the quality of kerosene being sold to the general public required regular inspection to ensure that it meets health, safety, environment and quality standards at all times to avert any regulatory breaches or threat to lives and properties of the general public and consumers of the products”.
Baru insisted that kerosene and other petroleum products supplied by the NNPC were of high quality and meet safety standards. He said, “The NNPC ensures that the entire refining output in Nigeria through its refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna and any products imported by it to make up for market supply-shortfalls meet the specifications of the Nigerian Institute of Standard (NIS) and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).”
Baru said that the NNPC would not compromise safety and quality in its products and processes, adding that all the depots in the country had laboratories for quality checks to ensure safety of consumers.
He explained that in keeping with its avowed commitment to the safety of consumers, the NNPC investigated the recent incident of kerosene explosion in Calabar and could not trace the truck that delivered the adulterated product in any of its depots loading schedule.
NNPC said that the country’s refineries, Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna are currently producing five million litres of kerosene daily, representing more than 60 per cent of the national daily consumption requirement of eight million litres.
According to Baru, who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, the balance of three million litres of the product was being imported by private petroleum products marketers.
