The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said sanctions await all those oil marketers that engage in the adulteration of products as it said the licence of any one found culpable would be withdrawn.
Also those dealers that manipulate their pumps would not be spared from the long arm of the law if they are cut.
C.N. Njoku, DPR’s zonal operational controller, while speaking to oil marketers at the department’s meeting with retail outlets operations and stakeholders’ forum held in Lagos, said much as the department encourages the proliferation of filling stations or retail outlets, prospective owners must follow due process to obtain all requisite approval before commencement of any project as well as upgrade of existing facilities.
She said: “The DPR wishes to reiterate its advice and to remind that sanctions await operators that continue to manipulate their dispensing pumps and sell adulterated products”.
Product quality control, she said, is very important to ensure that the products received and distributed to the public meet the recommended specifications.
The DPR boss declared that it is unacceptable for retail outlets to purchase products from uncertified sellers who in most cases would be delivering substandard products to the marketers.
The department, she said, had received reports from unsuspecting public of how their vehicles or equipment began to malfunction shortly after purchasing from the filling stations.
To reduce the risk of fire, she told the operators to adhere strictly to various designs consideration/approval and requirement such as lay out, spacing distance requirements all of which are designed to out-rightly prevent, and also help limit fire damage in time of accident.
“As we approach the 4th quarter of the year, and the rains gradually going, we must not forget that the dry season exposes us to the risk of static electricity and general vulnerability of combustible materials”, she said.
Welcoming the stakeholders, George Osahon, director, DPR, frowned at the rate at which the pumps at filling stations are being tampered with in order to cheat customers, despite the constant warning against such acts.
He said: “This is very disappointing and it goes a long way to show that many operating companies no longer monitor the activities of their stations. The stations have been left at the mercy of dealers, station managers, and pump attendants and the companies are only interested in recouping their investments.”
The DPR director stated that the department would not renew the licence of substandard filling stations and those that are known to be contravening petroleum regulations at will.
