DPR Harps on Consumer Protection in Downstream Operations

DPR Harps on Consumer Protection in Downstream Operations

Peter Uzoho

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has outlined four cardinal areas of focus for the downstream operations in its bid to continue to enable business as well as create opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

The four areas of focus are ‘Quality for product assurance and customer satisfaction; Quantity for transparency, value for money and consumer protection; Safety for personnel/assets and public safety; and Integrity for investment protection and business continuity’.

In a statement signed and issued yesterday by the agency’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Paul Osu, the Director of DPR, Mr. Sarki Auwalu, disclosed this during the visit by members of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) to DPR in Lagos last Wednesday.

Auwalu said DPR would continue to partner DAPPMAN to achieve national aspirations for the downstream sector such as price freedom, optimum petroleum products distribution network, petroleum products supply sufficiency and curbing of petroleum products cross-border leakages.

He stated that with the ministerial declaration of 2020 as year-of–gas, a new world of alternative fuels and investment opportunities has been created.

Auwalu encouraged DAPPMAN executives to avail themselves of those opportunities and partner DPR to enable value creation for investors and government.

He also said the DPR has developed a Gas Business Incentives and Support Programme (GBISP) to drive gas expansion and penetration.

The director explained that key strategic initiatives such as implementation of the gas network code programme to encourage gas base industries (GBIs), support for duty waivers consideration for equipment, tools and materials for downstream gas facilities, streamlined registration for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) resellers and the ongoing gas commercialisation programme, have been put in place to achieve the GBISP.

In her remarks, according to the statement, the Chairman of DAPPMAN, Mrs. Winifred Akpani, commended DPR for its robust regulatory initiatives and engagements with stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, which she said had created the enabling environment for their businesses.

She said DAPPMAN would continue to provide support for government policies especially in its drive for price freedom in the downstream sector.

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