End of year fuel scarcity rumour untrue – DPR

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure surplus of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and stall the speculated end-of-the-year scarcity.

Mr Wole Akinyosoye, the Zonal Operations Controller of DPR, Lagos Zonal Office stated this at the 2018 Annual DPR and Petroleum Marketers Meeting in Ibadan on Tuesday.

The event organised by DPR Ibadan field office had the theme: ‘’Making Safety and Integrity the Hallmark of our businesses’’.

“We are confident that the right lessons have been learned from all sides from the 2017 experience and all hands are now on deck to ensure it does not repeat this year.

“Government is leaving no stone unturned. NNPC is working round the clock to keep up with supply and bridge all gaps in all areas; especially in shoring up strategic reserves.

“DPR is also committed to constant surveillance to ensure fair practice at the forecourts. We therefore require your support you who are the last line to the consumers to keep the product lines flowing to the general public,” Akinyosoye said.

Akinyosoye stressed the importance of following DPR guidelines and safety in setting up retail businesses; especially when as pertained to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business which had gained ground momentarily in the last few years and had wreaked havoc in most homes across the country.

“Let us remind ourselves that it is also illegal to operate an LPG skid even in DPR-approved petrol stations.

“Holding a license to operate a petrol station does not entitle a dealer to set up a gas skid without obtaining the due approvals for the operation from the department, and the dealer must always take care to operate in safe manners even under license,’’ he said.

Mr Oluyemi Olaonipekun, the Operations Controller of DPR Ibadan said that DPR would maintain its statutory role of ensuring high level of compliance to government policies as relating to the petroleum industry.

“As the downstream petroleum industry continue to grow and evolve; it is imperative that we all brace up to live up to the expectations of government and beneficiaries of our services.

“Safety of lives and property including our assets should not be taken with levity at this time. No cost incurred on safety is too expensive when compared to the cost when accident occurs,” Olaonipekun said.

While reviewing the activities of DPR till date, the Head Operations, DPR, Mr Danjuma Sadiq charged petroleum marketers on global best practices and safety.

According to him, there are 170 licenses yet to be collected by petroleum marketers, while 279 have been abandoned in retail outlets in both Oyo and Osun states with 2,436 retail outlets operations.