Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Rabiu Umar, has said that the Federal Government has put an end to the era of dirty fuels in the country.
This, he said, had strengthened the country’s capacity to maximise its potential in the supply and trading of petroleum products within and beyond the West African subregion.
Umar spoke at a press conference to herald the West Africa Refined Fuel Conference which took place in Abuja on August 11 and 12.
The event was jointly hosted by the NMDPRA, SandP Global Commodity Insights, and the West Africa Regulators Forum.
At the height of military dictatorship in the country over two decades ago, particularly during the General Sani Abacha regime, importation of toxic fuel posed a heinous challenge in Nigeria. Across urban and rural areas in the country, the offensive odour of imported substandard fuel could be smelt from far distances to fuel stations.
It was believed that the criminal importation of such toxic fuel was the handiwork of unscrupulous importers with backing at the highest levels of government.
Thus, despite the outcry in the media against the obnoxious practice, no one was ever brought to book for what was the equivalent of a crime against humanity within Nigeria’s territorial space.
Although the challenge of the importation of toxic fuel appears to have been put behind us for several years now, the problem of impure fuel, going by Mr Umar’s exposition, seems to have persisted at a more surreptitious but no less dangerous level.
This is why it is good news that the relevant authorities now make it mandatory that all petrol supplied in the country comply with a maximum sulphuric content of 50 parts per million (ppm), in accordance with cleaner fuel standards being adopted across Africa.
The NMDPRA boss explained that harmonisation of fuel specificities throughout West Africa would make it easier for petroleum products refined in one country to be traded across the region without technical barriers constituting a hindrance.
Mr Umar gave the assurance that ‘There has been progress in harmonising fuel specifications through the West Africa Regulators Forum and the Africa Refiners and Distributors Association. Nigeria does not produce anything above 50 ppm. Whatever we are producing is within that specification’.
Experts have commended this significant policy shift, which is a marked departure from the period when the country routinely imported high-sulphuric fuels also referred to as dirty fuels.
One of the negative consequences of the use of pervasive dirty fuel is severe air pollution in areas where such petrol is patronised. The deleterious implications of such harmful petrol on the climate at a time when there is global concern about such destructive consequences as ozone layer depletion and Greenhouse gas emissions resulting in global warming and climate change, cannot be overemphasised.
There are also the debilitating consequences for human health of substandard fuels which have been linked to organic dysfunctions such as cancer, as well as assorted respiratory diseases.
No less serious is the harmful effect of dirty fuels on vehicles, which frequently develop mechanical faults that cost their owners substantial sums of money to repair.
The malfunctioning of vehicles as a result of dirty fuels also leads to accidents in which limbs are injured and lives lost.
Overall, the maintenance of the highest standards of fuel quality across West Africa will help achieve the region’s objective of establishing a credible petroleum marketing zone where products can be traded transparently, efficiently and competitively.
Nigeria stands to benefit greatly from this development as the more her products meet high-quality standards, the better she is positioned to play a bigger role in supplying refined petroleum products to neighbouring African markets as regional refining capacity expands.
It is, however, critical that the country continues to ensure that the regulatory authorities remain vigilant, focused and unrelenting in the task of enforcing the requisite standards.
We are optimistic that beyond maintaining the stipulated standards in fuel quality, other factors identified as critical to the vitality of the petroleum industry in West Africa, such as strengthening infrastructure, harmonising regulations and improving market data to attract greater investment will continue to be top priorities of the sector’s authorities in the region.