Chinedu Eze
Some oil marketers have saturated the aviation industry with low quality jet fuel that crashed prices from N800 per litre to N600 per litre, a development that compromised on air safety, THISDAY has learnt.
It was learnt that some of the oil marketers sourced the product from modular refineries and illegal facilities and sold DPK (kerosine) as Jet A1, known as aviation fuel, to some airlines, which has led to aircraft engine damage.
Last week, Max Air aircraft was seen with a lot of water coming out of its Boeing B737-300 aircraft tank and recently, Arik Air aircraft, Boeing B737-800 was grounded for over a month at the Abuja airport because of contaminated fuel.
Industry experts said more aircraft with engine problem would still surface because contaminated fuel may not immediately harm the engine but will gradually destroy the pumps, nozzles, filters, lines and other equipment in the aircraft engine, “and this will be dangerous for air safety.”
The Managing Director of Cleanserve Energy Limited, one of the oil marketing companies that serve products to the airlines, Mr. Chris Ndulue, confirmed to THISDAY that some oil marketing companies are selling contaminated and low quality products that do not meet standard specifications.
He blamed the industry for keeping quiet about the bad jet fuel being sold by some marketing companies, insisting that if an airline buys fuel from any marketing company, it should be able to trace the purchase to that company instead of putting the blame on all marketers.
“People are taking adulterated fuel. There is price war going on. You cannot count the number of marketers that sell product in the ramp but there are few marketers that have storage and other facilities. Now, anybody that gets a bowser begins to sell DPK to airlines, once he secures permit from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). People are taking kerosine from local refineries and selling as Jet A1 and it is damaging the engine of aircraft.
“We are lucky the aircraft whose engine got damaged as a result of contaminated fuel, happened on the ground. Imagine that it happened when the aircraft is in the air. That would have been very dangerous. Airlines are just interested in the cost of the product. I don’t have the mindset of a marketer. I can’t imagine giving an airline adulterated fuel that will endanger the lives of 120 passengers,” Ndulue who is the former Managing Director of Arik Air, said.
He called on the regulator, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to improve on its oversight function, reiterating that few marketers have facilities for product storage at the airport, which include Joint Users Hydrant Installation (JUHI), Sahara Energy, CleanServe and one or two others.
“No modular refinery is producing Jet A1. What they are producing is Dual Purpose Kerosine (DPK). It is not ATK (Aviation fuel). They move them from Niger Delta through the sea to Apapa. We are lucky nothing has happened besides engine damage of the aircraft. It is left for the regulatory agency to investigate these. Nobody should cover up all these. The company that sold contaminated fuel should be held responsible,” Ndulue further said.
Also, in exclusive interview with the Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, he told THISDAY that when aircraft engine takes in water the water would not go away easily; rather it would bury itself in some components of the engines and damage these components, making urgent engine overhaul inevitable.
“When this happens, the engine will flame out and two engines of the aircraft can flame out at the same time. Water cannot burn; it will rather extinguish the fire. You know the engine of aircraft is always burning but water can extinguish the two engines and the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU),” he disclosed.
He said NCAA should carry out effective oversight and rein the movement of low quality fuel products from modular refineries and illegal facilities to the airport, noting that they bring the product and sell it cheaper, while imported aviation fuel go for N700 per litre in Lagos and N780 in Abuja; some oil marketing companies sell product as low as N580 and N590 per litre in Lagos.
“Those who produce DPK and sell them as Jet fuel do not know the specification of water content in Jet fuel. The difference between kerosine and aviation fuel is water content. There is almost zero water in jet fuel. When you have water in the aircraft tank the long term effect is growth of algae in the tank. In the next five years algae will block your filters; so even if it doesn’t happen now; it will happen in future, but if there is good oversight, an inspector will notice it,” Sanusi told THISDAY.
He urged NCAA to go beyond the oil marketing companies and investigate the source of the products because marketing companies will not deliberately add water to the product. He said NCAA should follow the chain of supply, insisting that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) could monitor the source of the product.
“We must get it right. We should trace the source of the product to know where they are coming from. This is very important. We get to the origin and sanction them. When fuel is contaminated with water it destroys the combustive chamber; so the engine will go for overhaul earlier than it should,” Sanusi further said.
