Agencies of the Federal Government such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) certify the imported Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, that is imported into Nigeria, oil marketers have said.
This was disclosed on Thursday in an official statement responding to claims by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that off-spec petroleum products were imported into the country by dealers.
On Tuesday the refinery informed Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited and other oil marketers that the deregulation of the downstream oil sector should not be used as a justification for the importation of off-spec petroleum products or the undermining of Nigeria’s national interests.
Oil marketers denied this claim on Thursday as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, Robert Dickerman, also revealed 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.”