The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Wednesday raised the alarm over the infiltration of adulterated lube oil (engine oil) into the petroleum market.
Speaking on the DPR Half Hour of Radio Nigeria that The Nation monitored, DPR Zonal Operations Comptroller, Mr. Wole Akinyosunye, said that the callous act had become a concern to the organization due to the effects of fake lubricant on machines.
He however noted that the DPR was not resting in its oars as it was always raiding the illegal facilities of the adulterated lube with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC).
He called on consumers of engine oil to insist on purchasing their lube from licensed outlets and petrol filing stations instead of patronizing roadside retailers.
Akinyosunye, who said that the organization was doing its utmost to curb the menace, noted that the operatives of the DPR could not be in all the over 5,000 in Lagos and Ogun only at the same time.
According to him, the DPR has always sanctioned and revoked the licenses of the defaulters.
His words: “I can tell you that one of the major challenges that we have today is the adulteration of lube oil. You could find that unscrupulous persons also have business of how they adulterate lube oil or what is popularly called engine oil.
“They have even perfected how they package it as real. And some time they sell them under popular brand of unsuspecting consumers.
“So, DPR regularly raids such illegal facilities with the assistance of the Civil Defense Corp and put them out of operation. The adulteration of lubes is particularly of great concern to DPR because of its harmful effects on machines and the environment.
“And we therefore advise consumers to ensure to purchase products that are from only licensed outlets, petrol filing stations, especially.”
The DPR, he said, was still experiencing issues with quantity delivering at the pump as unscrupulous dealers adjusted their meters to under dispense to customers.
Akinyosunye however said that the organization was ensuring that customers get full value for their money by accurate dispensing of petroleum products.
The DPR, according to him, “ensures that any dealer caught under dispensing is penalized. It ranges from fine to total closure of station and revocation their license to operation.”
He called on the dealers to ensure proper calibration of their meters.
The DPR Zonal Operations Comptroller said that one of effects of very low refining capacity in Nigeria was inability to get full value for crude oil and importation of petroleum products.
The situation, according to him, constrained the country to allocate scarce forex to the importation of the Premium Motor Spirit, diesel and kerosene.
He however explained that the recourse to kerosene in the rural areas portends environmental challenges to the country.
He however revealed that “the good news from this, however, is that the scarcity is compelling the use of domestic gas across the country. The fact before us in DPR is that more Nigerians are now resorting to using gas as cooking fuel as alternative to kerosene.”
He called Nigerians to embrace the use of domestic gas, which he described as a cleaner energy source. He noted that that the domestic gas price was getting more competitive.
According to him, the sanction on Iraq and Iran which tightened the supply of crude oil was responsible for its rising prices.
He said the scarcity of petrol that was witnessed in Nigeria in November last year and January 2018 had normalized.
Source : http://thenationonlineng.net
