SON, NMDPRA test imported petrol, marketers reply Dangote

According to oil marketers, the imported Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, is certified by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

They made this announcement on Thursday in response to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery's allegations that dealers had brought in off-spec petroleum products.

The refinery told Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited and other oil marketers on Tuesday that the importation of off-spec petroleum products and the undermining of Nigeria's national interests should not be justified by the deregulation of the downstream oil sector.

On Thursday, oil marketers refuted this assertion, as Robert Dickerman, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, disclosed that his firm signed a 13-year agreement with the Dangote refinery to distribute the refinery’s petroleum products through pipelines.

Dickerman pointed out that independent inspectors, NMDPRA, and SON, among others, “inspect our products, so we can’t bring in off-spec products into this country.”

His position was confirmed by SON, as an impeccable source at the agency told one of our correspondents that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria was involved in the testing of imported petroleum products

The official added that the organisation operates its own laboratory facility to check if the commodities are off-spec or not.

“Yes, We are involved in the testing of petroleum products when they come into the country. We are involved in that. We have our laboratory facility where these tests are conducted. It’s to ensure if the commodities meet regulatory standards or off-spec,” the official said.

A major marketer also kicked against the claim that dealers import off-spec products into the country, particularly since the downstream oil sector was deregulated by the Federal Government.
"I previously described to you the difficulties we had when bringing in our imported petrol shipment. Numerous testing were conducted in the lab on the product. I am aware that imported goods are tested by the NMDPRA. Before it was transferred to Apapa, they collected a sample of our most recent cargo at Atlas Cove while it was still on the mother ship.

Before letting us place it in our tanks, they took another sample at the outflow point. Certified laboratories are used by the NMDPRA. Although our facility is available, the NMDPRA will not permit you to conduct your test until they have independently certified the product.

"There are three phases to the testing, the first being in Atlas Cove when the ship lands in Nigeria. When the product moves to your point of discharge they will do another test before they allow it into your tanks and aside from that, the day you want to start loading they will carry another test,” the marketer, who spoke in confidence due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos on Thursday, Dickerman said the clarification became necessary to debunk the statement from the Dangote refinery which accused Pinnacle of plans to blend substandard petrol in Nigeria.

The Dangote refinery had also said the Pinnacle MD approached it, pleading with the refinery to extend pipelines to its tank farms in order to blend substandard imported petroleum products with its ‘high-quality’ ones.

Reacting, Dickerman described the statement as defamatory, inaccurate, and intentionally misleading.

The managing director said it proposed and invested in pipelines to distribute petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery, saying pipeline transfer is far less costly than distribution by ship or trucking across the country.

According to him, when the project was proposed to Dangote, it wholeheartedly agreed and signed a 13-year interconnection agreement with Pinnacle Oil.

“On November 5, Dangote issued a Press Release titled, ’Pinnacle Oil and Gas FZE: Our Stand’. It is unfortunate and deeply concerning that this release contained several statements that are defamatory, inaccurate and intentionally misleading. Further, it advocated a national policy that would cause severe economic damage to Nigerians by raising the cost of petrol above global market prices and higher than they are today.
Since pipeline transfer is far less expensive than shipping or transporting petroleum goods throughout the nation, we suggested and invested in pipes to distribute petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery as part of our efforts to further improve distribution efficiency. Dangote enthusiastically accepted our proposal and signed a 13-year interconnection arrangement with us.

Furthermore, Dangote made it easier for us to get regulatory approval by submitting two Letters of No Objection to the regulator, which allowed our project to move forward. We actually reached a deal in 2022 to connect our pipeline to them, and I believe it was inked in early 2023. We actually came to this agreement around two years ago, and it was completed in a very thorough manner from both a legal and a business perspective," Dickerman said.

He explained that since the project was signed, numerous procedures had been carried out, such as surveying, obtaining the right of way, engineering the pipelines, and obtaining letters of no objection from everybody who would be impacted by the pipeline.

"There is a whole bunch of stages to a project. This is not unlike any other construction project. It’s a very simple and straightforward process. This was done first. There was never a hint that this was not a good deal for both parties ever. So, it’s just not true that they opposed it. It’s simply not true that they opposed it. They supported it,“ the Pinnacle boss stated.

This came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited denied a video clip that claimed the oil firm was selling dirty fuel from an NNPC Retail outlet at Keffi Flyover.

“We have carried out spot checks at all our outlets and found this claim to be false. The product was not, and could not have been bought from any NNPC Retail outlet as the company does not dispense petroleum products into bottles or jerrycans as displayed in the video,” it said in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye.

It added, “NNPC Retail Ltd does not deal in adulterated products as it adheres to rigorous standards and quality control measures at every stage in its operations to ensure that only high quality, safe, and reliable petroleum products are available at its stations nationwide.

"The public should disregard the false claims in the video and be cautious of self-serving and unpatriotic elements promoting such a narrative because they do not have the best interests of the nation in mind."