Stakeholders flag DPR for compromising safety standards in fire incident

Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have berated the Department of Petroleum Resources DPR over the fire incident that consumed about 10 million litres of petrol at the depot of OVH Energy Limited in Apapa, Lagos.

According to some of the stakeholders that spoke on condition of anonymity to BusinessDay, the fire incident was a reflection of the poor safety inspection exercise that the agency carries out every year.

They said it is obvious that the government agency must have compromised standards given certain revelations that were made in the course of trying to put the fire out at the tank farm.

Industry sources said it was obvious that the company lack the capacity to put out such fire as it was discovered that the equipment at its disposal could never have been able to tackle the inferno.

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The sources alleged that OVH Energy Limited lack sprinkler which would have been used to mitigate the conflagration on the tank itself some of them also alleged that they observed that the foam tank which is one of the basic the requirement for a set up like the tank farm was very limited.

Unfortunately, Total Plc whose depot is not too far from that of OVH had wanted to make available its sprinklers but it was not long enough to help in putting out the fire, a source said.

These are the things that DPR which goes on inspection depot facilities every year is supposed to have checked and ensure they are available, the sources said.

However, OVH Energy through Oladotun Akanji, Head, EHS, has however debunked these allegations saying that it has one of the best in class safety controls measures to prevent incidents like that of the outbreak of 5th of November 2020 from happening.

“All our tanks are fitted with foam injectors and sprinkler which are meant to deliver a mixture of foam chemicals and water into the tank on activation. The system was in place and active before the incidence”

“As a result of our expertise in safety management and strict adherence to industry required safety standards, we recorded no casualty from the outbreak of 5th of November 2020”.

The company stated further the tank in the question has an internal floating roof and a geodesic dome, which is meant to limit vapour release, as well as foam injectors. We have stock of foam as part of our fire response and preparedness

“Our response to the 5th of November’s fire incidence was immediate.We activated the emergency response system and evacuated everyone safely from the facility”.

Aside from the OVH Energy incident, most companies that own depots in Apapa don’t have required safety facilities that could help mitigate any fire outbreak in the depots.

A technical committee of the House of Representative that visited some of the depots recently was said to have indicted many of the companies on safety issues.