The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Warri Zonal Office, Delta State, has sanctioned two petrol stations and two gas plants over sharp practices.
The erring stations were Akpos Petroleum Ltd, G-Palash Nigeria Ltd, Onejire Gas Plant and Somil Energy and Gas Ltd, all located in Ughelli.
The stations were sealed on Friday over offences bordering on under-dispensing, operating without valid licenses, expired fire extinguishers and uninstalled gas leakage detectors, among others.
Assistant Director, Operations of the DPR, Mrs Gladys Idahosa, led a team of the regulatory agency on the routine surveillance on behalf of the Warri zonal Operations Controller, Mr Antai Asuquo.
In a chat with newsmen shortly after the exercise, Asuquo said that the agency would intensify awareness through routine surveillance to curb anomalies in the downstream sector.
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“In some of the gas plants we visited, we observed that some do not install gas leakage detectors nor do they recharged their fire extinguishers.
“However, some are up to date, they operate in a friendly environment while only one gas plant sealed was for safety reasons.
“A lot of the gas plants and filling stations are complying with the DPR rules that is why we could only seal very few ones,” he said.
Asuquo disclosed that the team would visit retail outlets regularly to take measurements of quantity of fuel dispensed, adding that anyone that goes above the accepted “deviation range” would be sanctioned.
The operations controller urged the consumers to always notify DPR whenever they notice a shortfall in the petrol they buy from the filling stations.
He also appealed to the marketers to cooperate with the regulatory agency and abide by its rules and regulations.
“We are not witch-hunters, the marketers should cooperate with us by complying with our rules so that we can work as a team.
“Our intention is to ensure that they work safely and in a safe environment,” he said.
It will be recalled that the regulatory agency had, in July, sealed 11 petrol stations and two gas plants in two separate operations in the state.
