Dirty Fuel Saga: Real Facts About Quality Specification For Diesel In Nigeria, By NMDPRA
By Sulaimon Salau
As the blame game lingers between Dangote refinery and the petroleum Marketers, on the supply of ‘dirty fuel’ into the Nigerian market, facts have emerged on what actually constitutes a ‘dirty fuel’ and the real diesel specifications by the regulator.
Slye News can state that the real acceptable Automated Gas Oil (AGO), authorized by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is 50 parts per million (50ppm) litres of Sulphur content.
However, this requirement has been deferred up to 31 December 2024 for refineries within the sub-region, thereby allowing sufficient time for processing plants to be upgraded.
A statement obtained by Slye News from the NMDPRA, showed that there has been a steady downward trend in the sulphur content of imported AGO from an average of 173.9 ppm in February to as low as 18.2 in June 2024.
The NMDPRA is statutorily mandated (Section 32 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021) to regulate the quality of all Petroleum Products consumed in Nigeria and ensure that these products meet stipulated standards.
The statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Communications, George Ene-Ita, reads: “Nigeria is a signatory to the ECOWAS Heads of States’ declaration of February 2020 that adopted AFRI-5 Fuels roadmap which requires that imported AGO should have a maximum 50 parts per million (50ppm) litres of Sulphur content.
“The declaration however deferred this requirement up to 31 December 2024 for refineries within the sub-region, thereby allowing sufficient time for processing plants to be upgraded.
“Section 317 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) upholds the AFRI-5 specification. However, its full implementation as dictated by the PIA has been guided by the overarching need to maintain stability in domestic supply and pricing during the transition.
“Since February 2024, NMDPRA has effectively ensured the compliance and enforcement of the Sulphur specification that has reflected a steady downward trend in the sulphur content of imported AGO from an average of 173.9 ppm in February to as low as 18.2 in June 2024.
“And there is every reason to be optimistic that this trend will continue going forward including when our domestic refineries fully operationalize the AFRI-5 template from January 2025,” he stated.
He said the NMDPRA continues to collaborate with all stakeholders in ensuring a level playing field for all players, and that only Petroleum Products which meet specifications are consumed in Nigeria in full compliance with the PIA with a view to safeguarding the overall health and wellbeing of Nigerians.
Recall that the Vice President, Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, had earlier this week, accused NMDPRA of granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country.
He said: “Inspite of the fact that we are producing and bringing out diesel into the market, complying with ECOWAS regulations and standards, licenses 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 licenses for such dirty diesel to be imported into Nigeria, when we have more than adequate petroleum refining capacity locally…” he stated.
However, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), stated that “the information from the Dangote Refinery Management is laced with inaccuracies”.
DAPPMAN noted that the downstream regulatory authority, (NMDPRA), in the very recent past had initially objected to offtakes by our daughter vessels from import mother vessels, via Ship-to-ship operations which usually take place offshore Lome, a move which was vehemently protested and resisted by downstream operators and has been rescinded.
DAPPMAN recalled that “between February and May 2024, the NMDPRA had allowed AGO imports with maximum sulphur content of 200/ppm however this was followed by another move, by the regulator, to fast forward the country target date of the implementation of the 50/ppm sulphur limitation on PMS and AGO imports, from 31st December 2024 to 1st June 2024, thereby limiting all marketers and depots’ AGO source to Dangote Refinery even though the latter was yet to install its desulphurization equipment as the sulphur in its blends of AGO presently exceed 50/ppm.
“This again was resisted by DAPPMAN in its letter to the NMDPRA which was dated 10th June 2024 to warn and alert the regulator not to ‘inadvertently promote and introduce a monopoly into the sector,” it stated.
