Page 5 - AfrOil Week 07 2022

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

Unfortunate timing imports in Nigeria, and subsequently returned
As previously reported, the problem became evi- to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp oil hub.
dent earlier this month. Nigerian press sources The Velos Diamantis, meanwhile, was char-
began experiencing supply disruptions follow- tered by Mercuria and loaded up with 60,000
ing the federal government’s decision to retain tonnes of gasoline in Antwerp. It left Antwerp
subsidies for domestic gasoline prices, especially for Lagos last month but changed course on Feb-
in and around the cities of Lagos and Abuja. ruary 4. According to a source inside Mercuria,
The shortages did not arise because of the the company no longer owns the cargo.
subsidy. Instead, they appear to be the result of
an unfortunately timed arrival of about 100mn NNPC inspectors
litres of contaminated gasoline in Nigerian ports. NNPC has also tried to forestall any suggestions
The fuel was imported by state-owned Nigerian that its own shortcomings played any role in the
National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) on behalf of importation of contaminated fuel.
local fuel firms working under the Direct-Sale- Its February 10 statement quoted Mele
Direct-Purchase (DSDP) programme. Kyari, the group managing director of NNPC,
After its arrival in Nigeria, NNPC inspec- as saying that the company’s quality inspectors
tors determined that the gasoline contained had carried out tests showing that the relevant
unacceptably high levels of methanol. Subse- volumes of gasoline had been determined to
quently, NNPC’s Pipelines Product Marketing meet Nigerian standards prior to discharge. The
Co. (PPMC) subsidiary began working to recall problem became evident on January 20, Kyari
the gasoline, keep it out of the domestic market said, when an NNPC inspector determined that
and return it to the original supplier. the fuel contained unacceptably high levels of
Nevertheless, some of the contaminated fuel methanol. This only occurred after discharge, at
made its way onto the local market. The Nige- a point where petroleum products are subject to
rian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum more stringent inspections, he said.
Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) did attempt “It is important to note that the usual qual-
to isolate these volumes and remove them from ity inspection protocol employed in both the
distribution networks, but its efforts had an load port in Belgium and our discharge ports
impact on efforts to keep Nigerian filling sta- in Nigeria do not include the test for percent
tions supplied. methanol content, and therefore the additive Reports of fuel
As a result, many retail fuel sellers began run- was not detected by our quality inspectors,” he shortages have
ning short last week, and the supply problems explained.
persisted through the weekend and into this been further
week. New labour complaints
In the meantime, gasoline shortages and complicated by
LITASCO’s role black-market sales of gasoline at inflated prices
Meanwhile, NNPC issued a statement on Feb- have continued to spread across Nigeria – and new threats of
ruary 10 naming four of the companies that had the situation has been complicated even further labour unrest
supplied the contaminated gasoline. by new threats of labour unrest.
In the statement, it identified the firms as On February 7, for example, Yusuf Othman,
MRS, Oando, the Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/ the national president of the Nigerian Associ-
Brittania-U Consortium and Duke Oil. (The ation of Road Transport Owners (NARTO),
fourth is a subsidiary of state-owned NNPC, it drew attention to truckers’ complaints about
noted.) It also reported that all four of the com- the low rate of compensation the government
panies had loaded their tankers with gasoline has been offering for hauling gasoline. He told
at the LITASCO terminal in the Belgian port of reporters in Abuja on February 7 that a number
Antwerp. of his group’s members had taken their tankers
NNPC’s suspicions of LITASCO appear to off the road, saying: “Our people have parked
run even deeper. Reuters reported at the week- their trucks, and more people are going to park
end that the state-run company had prevented [theirs].”
two tankers that had loaded up with gasoline Meanwhile, Salmon Oladiti, the head of the
in Antwerp from landing and discharging their Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) labour union,
cargo in Lagos, owing to concerns about the threatened to call a national strike unless the fed-
possibility that they might be carrying contam- eral government commits to the rehabilitation
inated fuel. of 21 critical roadways. Speaking to reporters
Citing ship tracking data from Refinitiv on the evening of February 9, he said that PTD
Eikon and other sources, the news agency was taking this step to protect its own members.
named the two tankers that were turned away The drivers of fuel tanker trucks face too many
as the STI Symphony and Velos Diamantis. risks because of the poor state of Nigeria’s road
It said the former vessel had been chartered network, he declared.
by LITASCO on January 15 to deliver 90,000 “We’re tired of accidents, being stranded on
tonnes of gasoline to West Africa. The STI Sym- the roads for weeks, risk of attacks by kidnap-
phony loaded up with gasoline at Antwerp on pers, bandits and terrorists,” he declared.
January 22 and then left port, listing Lagos as its Oladiti also called on federal authorities to
destination. However, it changed course off the take action on the agreement that PTD struck
coast of Guinea after receiving new instructions with NNPC last year, saying that the union had
from NNPC, which has a monopoly on fuel been kept waiting for too long.

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