Lagos – The subsidiary of NNPC Ltd, Duke Oil, and Oando Plc have denied involvement in the importation of adulterated fuel into the country.
They said separately that the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, or petrol, that came into the country through them were confirmed clean by the mandatory tests conducted at the loading port in Europe and before discharge in Nigeria by independent relevant authorities, including the NNPC quality inspector.
The companies made their stand known when they appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources, Downstream.
SweetcrudeReports had last week reported that the four companies mentioned in connection with the importation of adulterated fuel into the country would be appearing before the House of Representatives for questioning.
The House had said it would investigate the circumstances surrounding the importation of the toxic fuel.
Lawal Sade, Managing Director, Duke Oil, during the questioning, said 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 discharge 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,” he said
According to him, the cargo has been certified by the midstream company and there was a joint inspection before the discharge and the specification provided in the contract with NNPC meet up with the Nigerian specification.
Representative of Oando Plc, Afanga Afanga, said the firm’s product met the Nigerian specification.
According to him, “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 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, maintaining that it was on this basis that the cargo was certified and accepted for discharge by NNPC.
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