Vice President, Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, has condemned the large number of licenses being granted indiscriminately to marketers who according to him end up importing dirty fuel into Nigeria, endangering citizens’ health and polluting the environment.
He said the action of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) was causing a lot of damages to the country.
Edwin spoke during the one-day training programme, organised by the Dangote Group Energy Editors recently.
He made it known that the country was playing into the hands of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) “by continuing to issue import licences, at the expense of our economy and at the cost of the health of the Nigerians who are exposed to carcinogenic products.”
He said: “In spite of the fact that we are producing and bringing out diesel into the market, complying with ECOWAS regulations and standards, licences are being issued, in large quantities, to traders who are buying the extremely high sulphur diesel from Russia and dumping it in the Nigerian Market. Since the US, EU and UK imposed a Price Cap Scheme from 5th February, 2023 on Russian Petroleum Products, a large number of vessels are waiting near Togo with Russian ultra-high sulphur diesel and, they are being purchased and dumped into the Nigerian Market.
“In fact, some of the European countries were so alarmed about the carcinogenic effect of the extra high sulphur diesel being dumped into the Nigerian Market that countries like Belgium and the Netherlands imposed a ban on such fuel being exported from its country, into West Africa, recently. It is sad that the country is giving import licences for such dirty diesel to be imported into Nigeria, when we have more than adequate petroleum refining capacity locally.
“The Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refinery and we are the only one that delivered on promise. In effect, we deserve every support from the Government. It is good to note that from the start of production, more than 3.5 billion litres, which represents 90 per cent of our production, have been exported. We are calling on the Federal Government and regulators to give us the necessary support in order to create jobs and prosperity for the nation.”
Recall that in May, new quality standards were adopted by Belgium and Netherlands to tackle the exportation of cheap, low-quality fuels to West Africa. These measures harmonize fuel export standards with the European domestic market, specifically targeting diesel and petrol with high sulphur and chemical content.
Basically, these fuels, with sulphur content of up to 10,000 ppm, were exported at reduced rates to West African countries.
Belgium’s Minister of Environment, Zakia Khattabi, announced that his country joined the Netherlands, which also prohibited the export of low-quality petrol and diesel to West Africa via the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam in April 2023.
Khattabi stated that the decision of the Netherlands to restrict dirty fuel exports had rechanneled the trade to Belgium, now used by oil producers and traders to export gasoline with very high levels of benzene and sulphur.
Khattabi said: “For far too long, toxic fuels have been departing from Belgium to destinations including Africa. They cause extremely poor air quality in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon and are even carcinogenic.”
While reacting further, Edwin said: “The decision of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), in granting licenses indiscriminately for the importation of dirty diesel and aviation fuel has made the Dangote refinery to expand into foreign markets. The refinery has recently exported diesel and aviation fuel to Europe and other parts of the world. The same industry players fought us for crashing the price of diesel and aviation fuel, but our aim, as I have said earlier, is to grow our economy.”
He appealed to the Nigerian government and the National Assembly to urgently step in for swift implementation of the PIA and to ensure the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians are protected.
He said: “Recently, the government of Ghana, through legislation has banned the importation of highly contaminated diesel and PMS into their county. It is regrettable that, in Nigeria, import licences are granted despite knowing that we have the capacity to produce nearly double the amount of products needed in Nigeria and even export the surplus. Since January 2021, ECOWAS regulations have prohibited the import of highly contaminated diesel into the region.”