The House of Representatives on Thursday cleared the four oil importing companies named in the recent adulterated fuel crisis in the country.
It also asked the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to adopt the 2017 PMS Standard (NIS 116:2017) by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in testing for methanol for all imported petroleum products.
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This followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) which investigated the importation and distribution of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
The report, which was presented by Rep. Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya, at plenary, said based on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s exoneration of the four oil marketers/importers (Duke Oil, MRS Oil and Gas, Oando Oil and Emadeb, Energy/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Britannia-U Consortium) involved in the importation, the committee, therefore, did not recommend their suspension.
It further recommends the empowerment of SON to subject all imported white petroleum and other products to the offshore conformity assessment and also resume routine quality control on them and other products imported into the country at the various seaports, airports, and borders as enshrined in the SON Act of 2015.
The report also urged the Minister of Petroleum Resources to expedite action on the completion of the rehabilitation and upgrading of the country’s major refineries at Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna to boost local refining and reduce over-dependence on imported petrol.
