OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — A subsidiary of NNPC, Duke Oil and Oando Plc, have again denied involvement in the importation of adulterated fuel into the country.
The firms made their stand known when they appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources, Downstream on Wednesday.
SweetcrudeReports had at the beginning of the week, confirmed that the four companies would be invited by the House of Representatives for questioning this week.
Reps had said it would investigate circumstances surrounding the importation of toxic fuel into the country.
Lawal Sade, Managing Director, Duke Oil during the questioning, said that the product imported by his company was certified okay both at the Port of loading and the Port of discharge by relevant authorities.
He, however, said they were notified by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC a few hours after the discharge that the product had some particles which made it to discontinue the process.
According to him, there was a confirmation by the regulator, which is the new Nigerian midstream, downstream authority to discharge that cargo within the stipulated date.
” The cargo discharged, and the vessel sailed. It was just after 24 hours of operation then; Duke Oil was notified by the NNPC that there was a complaint from some of their customers that the cargo has some particles
According to him, the cargo has been certified by the midstream and there is a joint inspection before the discharge and the specification provided in the contract with NNPC meet up the Nigerian specification.
Representative of Oando Plc, Afanga Afanga said that the firm’s product met the Nigerian specification.
“In line with our Direct Sale Direct Purchase contract with NNPC, on the 16th of January 2022, we delivered 90MT worth of PMS on board the Vessel MT Elka Apollon.
“It is important to note that this PMS cargo that was supplied met and was in line with all the Nigerian contractual specifications.
He said that it was confirmed by the mandatory tests that were conducted at the loading port in Europe and before discharge in Nigeria by an independent NNPC quality inspector.
He added that the agents of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority also confirmed it.
He said that it was on this basis that the cargo was certified and accepted for discharge by NNPC.
In his remarks after the questioning of representatives of the two companies, the chairman of the committee, Rep. Abdullahi Gaya, asked the companies to submit all relevant documents regarding their presentation, saying they may be re-invited if necessary.
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