The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Warri Zonal Office, has sealed 31 filling stations operating in Edo and Delta states for committing various offences.
Olumide Adeleke, the Operations Controller, made this known to newsmen on Sunday, in Warri. Delta State.
He said the petrol stations were shut between August 19 and 20, for offences ranging from products diversion, to over-pricing.
According to him, 13 filling stations were sealed for kerosene diversion, six for under-dispensing, while nine were shut for over-pricing.
Adeleke said that the action was in line with the statutory responsibility of the organisation of ensuring that marketers complied with the federal government’s directives on sales of petroleum products.
He said that surveillance would be a continuous exercise.
Adeleke advised marketers to abide by the federal government’s regulated pump price of N87 per litre, or be sanctioned.
“Henceforth, we will intensify our inspection and anyone caught, will be sanctioned accordingly,’’ he warned..
The controller said plans were underway by the organisation to introduce an electronic means of effective monitoring to tackle unwholesome practices by oil marketers.
“Once the marketers know that we are in town, they adjust but once they know we are out, they go back again, so it is a big challenge to deal with.
“What we intend to do is to introduce other means of monitoring, using something like electronic monitoring device, but that is still at the incubation stage,’’ he said.
Adeleke said that the DPR had standard and functional laboratories to test any product, adding that the inspection teams had hydrometers to test products on the field.
Reacting to the recent kerosene explosion in Aladja, a suburb in Warri, Adeleke advised people to buy kerosene from accredited sources like the licensed peddlers, surface tanks and filling stations, to avoid adulterated products.
“No matter where you buy your kerosene, you can test it on the spot manually by putting a drop on your hand to know if it is adulterated.
“If it vaporizes quickly, it means there is an element of PMS in it, if it stays a little before it dries off, it is good, if it is greasy, it means it contains AGO,’’ he explained.
Adeleke identified funding, under-staffing and lack of security personnel to provide cover for the staff on surveillance mission, as some of the immediate challenges.
“Sometimes, because of the volatile nature of the work, we need some level of security; you just have to go with armed persons because the people are becoming more aggressive in the way they do their business,’’ he said.
Adeleke, applauded the revitalization of the refineries, saying that there was some improvement in supply volume.
