ADULTERATED DIESEL: DPR TACKLES SON

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has reacted to allegations made by a sister government agency; the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to the effect that some fillings stations were selling diesel mixed with kerosene.
Disagreeing with SON, the Director, DPR, Mr Osten Olorunsola said latb weekend that if SON had a genuine case, it should have made available samples of such adulterated diesel for proper assessment by the DPR before going public.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has reacted to allegations made by a sister government agency; the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to the effect that some fillings stations were selling diesel mixed with kerosene.
Disagreeing with SON, the Director, DPR, Mr Osten Olorunsola said latb weekend that if SON had a genuine case, it should have made available samples of such adulterated diesel for proper assessment by the DPR before going public.
Olorunsola affirmed that the extant laws which created the DPR saddles it with the task of regulating the oil and gas industry and the agency had ensured that it performed the role with a high sense of responsibility and total commitment.
“We have therefore over the years, consistently enforced most of the standards published by SON as regards petroleum and its derivatives. These also include the recent setting of standards for bio-fuels in Nigeria,” the DPR boss noted.
In addition, he said the DPR had put in place adequate measures to guarantee petroleum product quality. These, he noted, included adequately monitoring petroleum imports and exports for best quality to safeguard the public from foreseeable dangers.
To further justifying its claim of working in line with its mandate, the DPR boss said that the agency has shut  more than 100 filling stations in different parts of the country between January and early March for offences ranging from under-dispensing, hoarding, diversion to product adulteration.
Mr Olorunsola, also said that DPR the remained committed to sanctioning marketers who flout rules and regulations governing product supply.
According to him, there is a drastic reduction in the rate of adulterated products to less than two per cent of the total volume in circulation nationwide, a confirmation of the firmness  that the DPR has brought to bear in the performance of its duty.