TheCable

Lawal Sade, managing director of Duke Oil, says the company followed all regulatory processes and rules before importing petrol. 

Sade spoke on Wednesday when he appeared before the house of representatives committee on petroleum resources downstream.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had named Duke Oil among the suppliers that imported methanol-blended petrol into the country.

But responding to queries from the lawmakers, Sade said the cargo was certified by the NNPC, and there was a joint inspection before the discharge of the product, adding that the specification provided in the contract met the Nigerian standard.

He said the company is “not just in business to make money but also guarantee the energy security” of the country and will never compromise the quality of the product supplied.

“There was a delivery of cargo by Duke Oil like you have seen in the report, and that cargo met up with the Nigerian specification both at the loading and discharge ports,” he said.

“There was a confirmation by the regulator, which is the new Nigerian midstream, downstream authority to discharge that cargo within the stipulated date. The cargo was discharged and the vessel sailed. It was just after 24 hours of operation then, Duke Oil was notified by the NNPC that there was a complaint from some of their customers that the cargo had some particles.”

“With the notification from PPMC/NNPC, immediately, the management of Duke Oil authorised NNPC not to evacuate the cargo any further and requested for recertification.

“But it is important we reiterate the fact that the cargo had been certified by the midstream and then, there was a joint inspection before the discharge and the specification provided in the contract with NNPC meet up the Nigerian specification.

“Duke Oil as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NNPC and commercially driven company, we are not just in business to make money but also to guarantee the energy security of our great nation and we never compromise the quality of the product we supply to Nigeria and any other place we do business and we will always seek to maintain this positive position.

“Duke Oil had no prior knowledge and was not notified by the supplier via any communication about the presence of methanol addictive in the cargo procured and all relevant quality certification at ports both load and discharge ports did not attest to the presence of methanol until when the cargo has been received by NNPC.

“And as a responsible government entity, we share the pains Nigerians have gone through as a result of the subsequent discovery and quarantine of the methanol blended PMS and subsequent hardship it caused to all of us. And what we did as a shareholder in NNPC, we partner with them to ensure that the quarantine process is taking place and as the supply of the last resort, we give back and ensure that there is a continuous flow of petroleum products across the country.

“We understand the hardship and inconveniences that resulted from the issue as mentioned earlier, Duke Oil had already taken necessary steps by creating additional layers.”

Speaking earlier, Afanga Afanga, representative of Oando Plc, said NNPC inspected and approved its cargo, adding that it met the country’s specifications.

“In line with our Direct Sale Direct Purchase contract with NNPC, on the 16th of January 2022, we delivered 90MT worth of PMS onboard the vessel MT Elka Apollon. It is important to note that this PMS cargo that was supplied met and was in line with all the Nigerian and DSDP contractual specifications,” Afanga said.

Ahmad Gaya, chairman of the committee, said the legislators would analyse the documents submitted by the oil companies and may invite them for further questioning.

The committee is investigating all companies involved in the importation of off-spec PMS.

On Tuesday, a consortium led by Emadeb Energy Services Limited and MRS Oil appeared before the committee to explain their roles on the matter.

Mele Kyari, the group managing director of NNPC Limited, had also appeared before the legislators and apologised for the situation.

Timipre Sylva, the minister of petroleum resources, is expected to speak before the committee on Thursday (today).