By Muyiwa Lucas
NNPC, as the sole importer of PMS into the country, awards contracts to its vendors for shipment of the commodity. The vendors, depending on their partnership with oil merchants in turn contract them for shipment into the country.
For every country, there are specifications for their PMS requirements. Upon arrival of the consignment in Atlas Cove jetty off the coast in Lagos, the NMDPRA, formerly DPR, moves in to the vessel to test the conformity of the product with the Nigerian standard before it is released into the market. The highest methanol level for Nigeria is just about two per cent.
Once the product meets the required standard, it is then sent to the depots for onward discharge to marketers through the various means of transportation available, including through the pipelines.
But the question on stakeholders mind is at what point could the product have been contaminated? For some, what has happened may not have been contamination of the product in the real sense of it. This is because the vendor contracted to import the fuel already knows the standard requirement of the country. Therefore, bringing in something contrary to the requirement means it is an “off Spec”.
Yet, others believe that there could have been a compromise in the supply chain. Reason? Officials of the NMDPRA are expected to inspect the quality of the fuel upon landing at Atlas Cove before it is released the market.
However, for some stakeholders, attention should be focused on the importer, Duke oil and Litasco, for the “off spec” brought into the country. This is because a major marketer, Total, was the first to discover the substandard quality of the consignment it got following a test it conducted on its allocation. Others like MRS were to later discover same.
Litasco, is a firm founded in 2000 in Switzerland. It is the exclusive international marketing and trading company of LUKOIL Oil Company, a Russian firm. Litasco describes itself as one of the world’s major traders of crude oil and refined petroleum products.
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