14 November 2013, Warri – The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the downstream regulatory subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has begun chatting a programme intended to keep unnecessary queues out of filling stations caused by scarcity of products particularly during this end-of-year season.
The Warri Zonal Co-ordinator of the DPR, Mr. A. O. Adeleke, unfolded this at the annual general meeting between the DPR and representatives of major petroleum products marketers operating in Edo and Delta States yesterday in Warri, Delta State.
The meeting, which a also had unit heads of the DPR, including the Head (Downstream Sector), Mr. Martins Chuks Eluji, was attended by representatives of ConOil, MRS, OANDO, Total as well as the Retail unit of the NNPC (NNPC Mega Filling stations in Edo and Delta) and the Petroleum Pricing and Marketing Company (PPMC).
Nonetheless, the DPR assured Nigerians that the a department would ensure that it would resist any attempt to perpetrate “unpatriotic practices, including arbitrary price increases, tampering with dispensing machines, diversion of products, etcetera by the marketers under any guise.”
The DPR has resolved to “sanction any outlet that sells products above the official price” the zonal controller warned, while expressing dismay that the same problems of non-compliance with laid the down rules and regulations had continued to rear its ugly head without the marketers offering any cogent explanation.
Adeleke, who also admonished the marketers against sharp practices like unauthorised branding of products and sale of unlicensed lubricants, said, “Let us use improvement in technology to improve our services,” saying the DPR was dismayed that some marketers had continued to stick to their old ways by giving many excuses for their shortcomings.
Eluji also sued for the cooperation of all the stakeholders in the interest of the country, which he said was in dire need of men and women of integrity especially in this vital sector of the economy in its march towards total transformation.
“Let us resolve once and for all to help our nation and generations yet unborn by tackling these critical issues headlong on how to effectively regulate the downstream sector,” Eluji said. He assured Nigerians that the closure of Warri Refining and Petroleum Company (WRPC) would not adversely affect supply this season as the NNPC had promised of adequate reservoir of petrol and advised against panic buying.
Nevertheless, the zonal coordinator, who expressed happiness at the revelation by the PPMC that the pipeline feeding the PPMC Depot in Benin-City, Edo State was now functioning without hindrance to the effective security surveillance in place, advised the marketers not to take the issue of safety of facilities and the environment lying low.
However, Adeleke blamed the continued high price of DPK (kerosene) in the country on the simple forces of demand and supply, saying he believed the price of the important domestic product could be effectively regulated is supply increased to match the high demand for the product.
– This Day