The Nation Newspaper

Tag: depot

  • Two tankers burnt in oil depot

    Two tankers burnt in oil depot

    Two fuel-laden tankers were burnt in an explosion at Stallionaire Oil Depot,  Satellite Town in Oriade Local Council Development Area of Lagos yesterday.

    The Nation gathered that the fire involved one of the tanks containing millions of litres of fuel.

    One of the tanks filled with PMS exploded, it was learnt.

    There are five tank farms in the area.

    It took the combined efforts of the Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and Julius Berger fire service to quench the fire.

    LASEMA General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu said the agency activated its emergency response plan with all the relevant stakeholders to the scene.

    Tiamiyu said: “On getting to the incident scene, it was discovered the facility which is a fuel depot comprising of a five tank farms, of which one of the tank filled with PMS exploded and resulted into big inferno.

    “However, prompt response by the emergency responders, including the state fire service, Federal Fire service, Nigeria Navy Tender fire service, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the police, Julius Berger PLC and others were on ground to curtailed the inferno to only the PMS tank whilst others (AGO and DPK) tanks were salvaged from the inferno.”

    Tiamiyu said proper investigation would be conducted on the incident.

    He stressed the need for owners and managers of oil and gas companies to always ensure proper emergency response plan is put in place for such facilities.

    Lagos State Fire Service Director Rasak Fadipe said they received the call on the incident around 11:35am.

    Fadipe said: “The fire involved one of the tanks in a tank farm containing millions of litres of fuel in the area.

    “Immediately the call came in, I deployed the fire truck at Ojo, which is close to the scene.  I also sent signal to the headquarters for more fire trucks to compliment the one in Ojo.

    “When I got to the scene, I discovered that the fire was huge. Some other articulated vehicle also got burnt, no life was lost, and no one died because of the prompt response of the emergency respondents,” he said.

  • ‘Petroleum depot owners sabotaging oil pipelines’

    An Ijaw group, Eye of Niger Delta (END), has accused the Petroleum Depot and Tank Farm Owners Association of sabotaging oil pipelines in the Niger Delta, saying this has contributed to polluting the environment and destroying aquatic life.

    Speaking to reporters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital yesterday, the group threatened to protest against any economic sabotage in the region and to expose those behind the act of the alleged oil pipelines sabotage.

    Its leader, Comrade Tari Victor Ben, said the group has written to the association to caution its members who indulge in the act of sabotaging the economy

    He said some people are  sabotaging   President Muhammadu Buhari and ensure that he didn’t succeed, adding that the deceptive act of crumbling the nation’s economy has contributed to the continuous pollution of Niger Delta environment.

    He advised Buhari to push for death sentence for the penetrators of oil pipelines sabotage in the region and other parts of the country. He promised his group’s support for the president and his anti-corruption crusade.

    In a swift reaction, an  executive member, Petroleum Depot and Tank Farm Owners Association Rivers State chapter,   Chief Godwin Umeh, denied any wrong doing.

    Chief Umeh  who spoke on behalf of the association said the allegation is a disrespect to the group which has contributed to the growth of the economy. He urged the group to go ahead and arrest any suspect sabotaging the oil pipelines in the region.

  • Kerosene to sell at N83 – PPPRA

    Kerosene to sell at N83 – PPPRA

    The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has increased the price of Household Kerosene from N50 to N83.

    This is contained in its products pricing template, released on Sunday in Abuja.

    It stated that the N83 per litre price applied only to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) outlets.

    The template also showed that at N83, the Federal Government will be making a gain of N10.72 on every litre.

    It further puts the expected open market price, which is the landing cost plus total margins at N72.28 per litre.

    The expected open market price is the prevailing open market rate for the product in Nigeria, after taking certain costs into consideration.

    Giving a breakdown of the price, the PPPRA template put the landing cost of ‎the product at N57.98 per litre, while the total margin due‎ middlemen was put at N14.30.

    The retailers’ margin was put at N5 per litre; transporters at N3.05 per litre while dealers at N1.95 per litre. It further put the bridging fund at N5.85 per litre; marine transport average at N0.15 and Administrative‎ Charges – N0.15.

    It stated that the official ex-depot price, which depot owners would sell to marketers, is N68.70 per litre. The official ex-depot price for collection is N73 per litre, while ex-coastal price is N68.02 per litre.

  • Fake cement depot closed

    Officials of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have sealed a fake cement depot in Benin.

    The owners were found to be repackaging Dangote Cement at the depot.

    Edo/Delta Coordinator of SON Akogun Ojo, who led the team, was amazed that the operators of the fake depot reopened the place after it was earlier sealed off.

    Ojo said: “We were pre-informed and we went to seal off the makeshift warehouse.

    “We will be happy if people can give us useful information on the activities of these people.”

    He said investigation would determine whether other substances were added to the cement or whether consumers were short-changed by reducing the quantity.

    The SON coordinator said the perpetrators would be prosecuted.

     

  • Benin oil depot back in operation

    Benin oil depot back in operation

    A strong feeling of appreciation and re-awakening ran through the historic city of Benin in Edo State yesterday as Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke re-commissioned the strategic Benin Depot of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) which has been out of operation since 2005.

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole said with the re-activation of the Benin Depot by the minister, the Federal Government has demonstrated its resolve to sustain the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas industry.

    “The minister has demonstrated that indeed good things can come from the Petroleum industry as well as the NNPC,” he said.

    Oshiomole recalled how he had to embark on what he termed a ‘pilgrimage’ to the Warri Refinery at the inception of his administration, to solicit for the supply of petroleum products to the state. “I thank God that I don’t have to make such long walk to Warri again because the Benin depot is back to service.” he said.

    The governor pledged to mobilise the resources as well as the people of Edo State to combat the issue of pipeline vandalism which he described as a national menace.

    Declaring the depot open for operation, Mrs. Alison-Madueke noted that the revamping of the Benin depot is a single item in a long list of practical measures designed by the President Jonathan’s administration to sanitise the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

    She said: “As an industry, we are extremely satisfied that the transformation agenda of the President in the oil and gas industry is coming to fruition. We are grateful to the Joint Task force for the level of support they have given the petroleum sector especially in the area of pipeline vandalism. It clearly shows how successful we can be as a people if we come together to combat a scourge.”

    Group Managing Director of the NNPC Andrew Yakubu said in the months ahead, the drive to revitalise the nation’s petroleum products depot will be sustained with the re-opening of the Gombe and Jos depots. “We have re-commissioned Mosimi, Aba and now Benin. But the good news is that we are not going to stop here, very soon we shall be in Gombe, Jos and other depots. In fact, we are not going to stop until the 21 depots become fully operational,” he said.

    Describing the depot revamping project as NNPC’s contribution to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, Yakubu urged stakeholders to support the corporation in its quest to combat the incidence of pipeline vandalism.

    Similar commendations came from the leadership of the Edo State chapters of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Tanker Drivers Association.

    Constructed in 1978 and inaugurated on August 30,1979, the Benin depot has 17 storage tanks with a combined design capacity to store 121, 720,000 litres of petroleum products including premium motor spirit, household kerosene and automotive gas oil. The facility has nine loading arms. The depot serves as a link for products evacuation from the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company through a 16-inch pipeline traversing 89.9km.

  • Ibadan container depot ready

    THE Oyo State Shippers’ Association has said the first phase of Ibadan Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Erunmu is ready for inauguration.

    Its President, Dr Ayo Omotoso, said the concessionaire, Catamaran Logistics Limited, would move into the depot with their foreign partners after the event.

    Omotoso said the rail line from Lagos to Ibadan and Kano had been rehabilitated.

    He said this would facilitate the take-off of the Ibadan dry port and others across the country.

    He commended the Federal Government for the project, adding that containers could conveniently be transported by rail to the ICD sites. The shipper said the ICDs and the container freight stations (CFSs) were user facilities with public authority status.

    He said the Ibadan ICD would handle imports and exports under the control of the Nigeria Customs Service NCS) and other agencies.

    The Federal Government, in 2006, granted approval for the establishment of six ICDs and CFSs in the country.

    The ICD project was conceived by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as a solution to the problem of port congestion.

    The depots and stations approved for the six geo-political zones are located in Ibadan, Kano, Isiala-Ngwa, Jos, Maiduguri and Funtua.

    The delay in the implementation of the project is causing concern among stakeholders.

    The Oyo State government recently adopted a more proactive stand on the ICD project, unlike the past administrations which were not enthusiastic about the project.

    The Ibadan ICD has capacity for 50,000 containers (TEUS).