The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has firmly stated that there is no dirty fuel in circulation within Nigeria. This declaration was made by Ogbugo Ukoha, the Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure at NMDPRA, following a meeting with oil marketers and local refiners held at the NMDPRA headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
NMDPRA’s response comes in the wake of allegations from Dangote Refinery, which claimed that the regulatory authority had licensed importers to bring dirty fuel into the country. Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, expressed concerns over international oil companies allegedly hindering the full-scale commencement of Dangote Refinery by dumping dirty imported fuels into the Nigerian market.
Addressing these allegations, Ukoha pointed to a significant regulatory milestone: “Heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2020 endorsed a declaration adopting the Afri-5 fuel roadmap that requires that certain products have a minimum of 50 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur per litre.”
Highlighting NMDPRA’s efforts, Ukoha stated, “As an authority, what have we done since we came into being? We started by engendering compliance. We saw a downward trend up to December 2023. In December and January of this year, we noticed a spike in the sulfur contents of products being imported. And we again now began strong enforcement from February 1.”
“I am happy to tell Nigerians that up until as we speak in June, the average sulfur content in every Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) that is brought into Nigeria is far below what the 50 ppm provision is in the law,” he added, assuring the public of the quality of fuel available in the market.
