The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) has suspended operations of seven tank farms within Satellite Town in Lagos.
The facilities were recently shutdown but the regulatory agency allowed the trucks on ground at the facilities load products before sealing up the tank farms completely.
We learnt that the closure of the facilities was sequel to discovery that the operators were selling Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) above the ex depot price making the final consumer to buy above N165 per litre.
Some of the depots affected in the closure include: Aipec, Menj, A.A Rano, Rain Oil, Stallioniare, Wosbab, Lado Oil all situated at the Satellite Town, under Oriade Local Council Area of Lagos State.
“NMDPRA suspended some depots from loading PMS as depot are selling above the ex depot price making the final consumer to buy above N165, one of the source told our correspondent at the weekend.
Recall that oil marketers recently gave the Federal Government conditions that should be met in order to retain the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at N165 per litre.
According to them, the cost of the commodity must be sold at the approved ex-depot price at various depots, whether private or government-owned, as this would enable filling stations to dispense the product at the regulated N165/litre rate.
They said private depots were dispensing the commodity at higher rates than what was approved by the Federal Government despite the many challenges in the downstream oil sector.
They made this known to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja, a development that made the agency to ask the marketers to report depots that were selling PMS above the approved price.
The approved ex-depot price of petrol is about N148 per litre, but retailers say private depot owners sell the commodity above N160 per litre.
The General Manager, Corporate Communications Department, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo, said in a statement issued in Abuja that executives of the South-West Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to the authority where they made their demands known.
In the statement, the Zonal Chairman, IPMAN South-West, Dele Lamidi, said the purpose of the visit was to seek collaboration and support the authority in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
