Director, DPR, Mr. Osten Olorunsola
| credits: File copy
| credits: File copy
The
Department of Petroleum Resources has threatened to sanction oil
marketers that sell petroleum products at arbitrary prices by shutting
their facilities and revoking their operating licences.
The Director, DPR, Mr. Osten Olorunsola,
said this in Lagos on Thursday at a meeting between the department and
petroleum products depot owners.
“Any marketer, who fixes arbitrary
prices, shall be sanctioned and the affected facility will be shut and
the operating licence withdrawn,” Olorunsola said.
The DPR boss said it was illegal for any company to sell petroleum products from a depot without issuing receipts of sale.
“To this end, all marketers buying
products from depots should be issued with certified receipts of
purchase indicating the quantity of products purchased and the prices,”
he said.
Olorunsola said the department had been
inundated with complaints from members of the public about marketers
arbitrarily fixing petrol price above the government-approved N97 per
litre.
He said some retail outlets were
discovered to be flagrantly displaying the arbitrary prices without fear
of being sanctioned; adding that such negated stipulated regulations
and would not be condoned.
“The prices of petroleum products at the
retail outlets are affected largely by the ex-depot prices. This is why
it is of utmost importance to ensure that the regulated products
(petrol and kerosene) from facilities are sold at the
government-approved prices,” he said.
The department had since last year
mandated oil depots to install metres at the receiving jetties to
improve the accuracy of the quantity of products received through
dynamic measurement.
