DPR Blames Petroleum Marketers For Chaos In Oil Sector

The South East Zonal Controller of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Peter Ijeh has blamed the independent petroleum marketers for the chaos in the sector.
Ijeh said this in a paper entitled “The Role of Government in Sanitising the Petroleum Markets”, which he presented in Awka, Anambra State, at a summit organised for the marketers, last week.
The theme of the summit is “Sanitising the Petroleum Sector: The Role of the Government and the Private Sector”.
The occasion was the First Anambra Petroleum and Lubricants Dealers Summits organised by the Office of Senior Special Adviser to Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano on NUPENG, Petroleum and Union Matters, for industry players.
He said government had put in place rules and regulations that guide the market, but blamed some of the challenges in the sector on the unwillingness of marketers to adhere to these rules.
Ijeh said issues of adulteration might not be deliberate but due to environmental and operators lackluster attitude to safety.
According to him, some marketers who build filling stations or gas plants do so without approval from the DPR or town planning agency, and when they are stopped from going further, they go to any length to achieve their aim.
“Most transportation trucks are expired and not worthy to be on the roads, a bill is in process to ensure that all tanks on our roads are fitted with double safety valve to ensure that when there is a fall, products will not spill.
“DPR does not approve gas plants in a filling station or outlets in residential areas,” he said.
In his speech, Mr Peter Nwosu, the organiser of the summit, said though the event had been conceived before the recent tanker accidents, the idea was to demonstrate Anambra State government’s determination to protect its citizens.
He said the state had a big petroleum market and marketers which underscored the need for government to engage the stakeholders towards evolving a sane downstream sector.