Adewale Sanyaolu
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Monday declared zero tolerance against violators of its rules of engagement just as it unsealed 89 Petrocam filling stations across the country.
Acting Director of DPR, Mr. Ahmed Shakur, handed down the warning at a media briefing in Lagos yesterday.
Shakur said the agency under his watch would not encourage actions calculated to weaken oil and gas laws in the country.
The declaration of zero tolerance for violators of oil and gas rules may not be unconnected with the agency’s announcement of the unsealing of 89 Petrocam filling stations across the country.
Shakur explained that the company erred in one of its gas plants in Ayobo, a suburb in Lagos State, for failure to confirm to regulatory provisions.
The DPR acting Director explained that the agency’s surveillance team having discovered that the gas plant failed to conform to regulatory standards, sealed the facility but the confirm unsealed it without the agency’s knowledge.
Again, he said the team went back to the plant for the second time to reseal the facility, the company, he said repeated the same feat by unsealing it.
Shakur, who said the agency decided to lift the sanction against the company having shown remorse for its action, saying the agency would continue to wield the big stick on operators who have penchant for violating the rules in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
‘’This should serve as a strong warning to oil marketers who are in the habit of violating the rules in the oil and gas industry . Henceforth, DPR) will not shirk its responsibility of imposing sanctions on such marketers with a view to serving as deterrent to orders as well as strengthening standards in the industry’’.
The agency’s boss also highlighted the strides he has taken against influx of illegal gas plants in the country, saying the development has paid off following the reduction in the number of the facilities.
He said his officials have been sealing such gas plants daily as a measure to deter perpetrators from the act.
He noted that the agency has also nipped the multiplicity of gas skids in an unauthorised locations in the country by wielding the big stick when necessary.
