It is a new regime for petroleum marketers in Bayelsa State. They must play by the rules and observe all the regulations governing the industry. The new culture of doing things properly without profiteering is being initiated by the Bayelsa State Office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The department will no longer tolerate selling petroleum products especially Petrol Motor Spirit (PMS) above the Federal Government regulated prices. It will no longer allow marketers to engage in underhand practices such as under-dispensing, hoarding and other sharp practices aimed at shortchanging unsuspecting members of the public.
Recently, the department led by its Operations Controller in the state, Mr. Bassey Nkanga, met with the marketers and read the Riot Act to them. Prior to the meeting, the marketers were having a field day selling PMS between N110 to N115 per litre with the exception of the NNPC mega station which was selling at the regulated pump price of N87 per litre.
But Nkanga at the meeting with the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) ordered the marketers to revert to the regulated price regime. The controller, also warned against under-dispensing of the product to consumers. He said under-dispensing is a form of surcharging the public and selling above the pump price through the back door.
He told the marketers that defaulters would be thoroughly sanctioned adding that the punitive measures would include fines, shutting down filling stations for between six and nine months and outright sealing off.
Nkanga also warned dealers who engage in adulteration and diversion of petroleum products to desist from such acts. He said the department would punish any marketer engaged in adulteration and diversion of products.
He said: “We are ensuring that fuel is sold at the approved pump price of N87 and this is with immediate effect. Any defaulter in any form will be adequately sanctioned. Compliance is with immediate effect because penalties would range from fines, shutting down of stations for up to six and nine months.
“If you divert, we will charge you N200 per litre of the fuel you diverted. If you under-dispense you will be sanctioned appropriately.”
At the meeting, Spokesman for IPMAN in the state, Ere Peters, said members of the association would comply with the order to revert to the controlled price.
But the Nkanga-led DPR did not stop at the meeting. The controller immediately constituted a team to go round the filling stations and ensure that marketers complied with the directive. The team stormed filling stations and discovered that some filling stations were still engaged in sharp practices. The team immediately sealed off stations engaged in under-dispensing and selling above the pump price. Some of the stations tried to prevent the DPR team from doing their job. They were punished.
Among the filling stations sealed for dispensing fuel above the pump price through the “back door” and refusal to allow DPR officials access, were RSK Oil, GA Oil and Gas, Mobil and South-South Oil and Gas.
For instance, at RSK Oil in Swali area of Yenagoa, the team discovered that the meters were fixed at N87 per litre, but when officials asked the attendants to dispense the product into 10-litre equipment, they found that the meter had been badly readjusted to cheat consumers.
The team noticed that product worth N674.25 was sold for N870.00, which meant that consumers were paying extra N195. 75 for every 10 litres of petrol bought at the station. The station was also indicted for not having adequate sand buckets and fire extinguishers.
Similar discovery was made by the team at GA Oil and Gas on Ox Bow Lake Road. The station was collecting over N140 extra for every 10 liters sold to buyers through under-dispensing. When officials of the DPR returned to South-South Oil and Gas sealed off earlier, they discovered that the station had reverted to the regulated pump price of N87.
Nkanga said: “We are trying to ensure that nobody sells petroleum above the stipulated price of ?87. The renewed effort is tend towards ensuring that the public also enjoy the price regime of petroleum. That’s why you are seeing us going out en mass and daily, stepping up as surveillance. The essence of it is to ensure that marketers don’t sub-charge the public any longer.
“When we discover that somebody is grossly under-dispensing, we conclude that the person is selling above the pump price and we close the station and make the penalty to be likethe one selling above pump price. But if it is just normal under-dispensing, we will take it as an error and suspend you and ask you to adjust your pump.
“Timicon was sealed for selling above N87 per litre. The other one that was suspended for under-dispensing was made to sign an undertaking that they will adjust the pump and not sell above the pump price. That was South-South Oil and Gas.
“There was one that said he had no product and later claimed that he was trying to fix his generator that went bad. We will do monitoring for that one. We will start with them and ensure they sell what they have so that they don’t sell above pump price. The one that has been shut will remain sealed until he pays the penalty and sign an undertaking never to wilfully under-dispense again.
“Now the government is putting its feet down that the depots must sell at the government regulated price no matter the condition. That is why everywhere in this country, this change is experienced.
“Prior to this problem, I had a lot of issues and petitions with Bayelsans when I just got here. But because we knew what we were doing, we maintained our focus.”
On the punishment for defaulters, he said: “Anybody that is found selling above pump price will pay a penalty of ?100,000. If we catch you three times, you’ll pay three times too. We may decide to punish you immediately or let you exhaust what you have under the ground first. We may decide to shut you down.
“We are sustaining this monitoring. I have given my telephone number out. The staff we have re the people coming from other places. We tell the public that if they are not satisfied with the volume dispensed to you or the fuel was sold above the pump price, they should call the number and we will respond timely.”
