Nigeria Rallies Netherlands, Belgium to Address Quality of Petroleum Products

In a bid to avert the importation and consumption of poor quality petroleum products in Nigeria as witnessed early this year, the federal government has begun engagement with The Netherlands and Belgium petroleum authorities.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos, during his keynote address at the ongoing Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) Africa Downstream Week 2022, with the theme: “Regulating Downstream Energy Transition in Dynamic Times.”

The Netherlands and Belgium are two of the major European petroleum refining countries, where Nigeria imports white products from despite being a major oil producer.

Around February this year, Nigeria was thrown into a severe petrol scarcity that lasted for weeks, with excruciating pains felt by the citizens owing to the importation of off-spec petrol by some importers.

During the period, many Nigerians had wondered why the NMDPRA, the agency in-charge of regulating the activities of the downstream sector could not intercept the product before it made its way into the market.

However, speaking at the event, Ahmed said the Authority was addressing the issue of fuel quality through strategic collaboration with key stakeholders in the petroleum products value chain such as Netherland Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) and Belgium petroleum agency.

He said the agency was also engaging with the NNPCL, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

“The Authority is addressing the issue of fuel quality through strategic collaboration with key stakeholders in the petroleum products value chain such as Netherland Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), the NNPC Limited, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the NCS.

“Of particular importance is our strategic engagements with our Netherlands and Belgian counterparts, considering that bulk of Nigeria’s petroleum products importation originates from the ARA region.

“Our collaboration with the NCS led to the suspension of import licenses for land border importation of petroleum products in order to eliminate sharp practices and enhance quality control,” Ahmed said.

Thanking the Comptroller General of Customs, for the cooperation his agency had received, the Authority chief executive informed that further collaborations with NNPCL, SON, NCS, African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA), the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) and other key stakeholders on improving the standards of fuel utilised in Nigeria would continue.

According to him, “we shall also continue sustaining deep collaboration with regional governments, regulatory entities, National Oil Companies and professional associations to improve fuel quality standards and implement the AFRI Clean Fuels roadmap.

“I want to specially recognise efforts of Dr. Mustapha Abdulhamid, MD, National Petroleum Authority of Ghana (NPA) for organising highly successful regional regulators’ workshop in September.”

As part of the regulatory agency’s commitment to fuel quality improvements, Ahmed said the NMDPRA would be participating at the upcoming high-level African Petroleum Ministers Meeting on Cleaner Fuels, organised by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in November 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya.

He stressed that the role downstream petroleum sector plays in the economic growth of any country cannot be overemphasised, adding that the efficient and effective management of this sector was one of the leading performance targets of a regulator like the NMDPRA.

He said history had taught everyone that the path-dependence in energy systems was an ever-changing phenomenon, and that from time to time, the dominant energy supply path in the energy mix experiences changes.

He explained that at some point in the past, the main source of energy was biomass, with crude oil and natural gas later replacing it through their many derivatives which evolved to become the predominant global source of acceptable energy.

He maintained that today, that dominance was being aggressively challenged by renewable energy sources, saying the world is currently experiencing major developments in energy supply globally, with discussions on energy demand rapidly evolving and rallying around the need for energy supply to be guaranteed through cleaner and more sustainable sources.

These discussions, Ahmed noted, have metamorphosed into a compelling strategic case, which has emplaced another energy transition in this century.

Ahmed explained, “It is in the light of the current realities that all stakeholders in the energy sector, and more specifically, the downstream must ensure that the sector is properly positioned for enhanced performance during these rapidly changing times.

“This would entail the optimisation of technology; petroleum product quality upgrade; regional markets integration; HSEC assurance; human capital development; and strong regulatory enablement.

“We excitedly look forward to receiving well thought-out industry perspectives and strategic imperatives that will govern the effective management of the energy transition in the downstream petroleum sector and ensure reliable supply of clean energy for Nigeria, Africa and the world at large,” he added.

The NMDPRA boss stated that a compelling case to accelerate the emplacement of a sustainable supply framework of clean fuels by the African downstream industry had become one of the most outstanding challenges the continent faces in the short to medium term, that must be comprehensively addressed.

To reposition the continent’s downstream sector in this season of opportunity, he advised that stakeholders must be guided by a few pertinent drivers, which he said could be established from answering some fundamental market related questions.

Peter Uzoho

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