NMDPRA Seals Six  Petrol Retail Outlets, Illegal Gas Plant in Delta

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Six petrol retail outlets and an illegal gas refilling plant in Delta State were yesterday sealed off by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Warri Zonal Office over alleged sharp practices in the state.

The Head of Operations in Warri office, Mr. Goziem Chukwurah, led a surveillance team of the regulatory authority to seal off the erring stations in Uvwie and Udu Local Government Areas of the state.

The filling stations were sealed over offences bordering on under-dispensing and lack of operational licences.

The stations sealed are Bwede filling station; Pius A Idoghor Oil and Gas; Eshegbe Oil; Fetega Oil, and Sole Energy Enterprise, all in Orhuwhorun town in Udu LGA.

Others are Falcon Bay Oil at PTI junction and another Falcon Bay Oil located on the DSC expressway, both in Uvwie LGA.

Chukwurah, on behalf of the NMDPRA Coordinator in Delta, Victor Ohwodiasa, said the operation was to ensure that the masses were not shortchanged by the marketers.

According to him, “The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that consumers get values for their money. One of our mandates is that one litre should be one litre. But most of the petrol stations we visited were selling without operational licences, so we have to shut down the stations and invite the owners to our office.

“We sealed six petrol retail outlets and an illegal gas plant for various offences ranging from lack of operational licences to under-dispensing of petroleum products to the consumers.”

Ohwodiasa urged the consumers to report any petroleum marketer that indulges in sharp practices to the regulatory body for appropriate action, assuring them that the exercise would be continuous until the marketers do the right things.

While assuring the state the authority’s commitment to ensuring that petroleum product is available to the masses, Ohwodiasa warned marketers to desist from illegalities to avoid their stations been closed down.

Meanwhile, a staff of the Falcon Bay Oil was apprehended for violating the NMDPRA’s seal on their dispensing machine, and was consequently handed over to the appropriate authority for prosecution.