West African nations drag heels on banning import of pollutant fuels high in sulphur content

Nigeria and several other West African states are not expected to implement rules banning imports of sulphur-heavy fuels until December 1 at the earliest after missing summer deadlines, drawing the ire of health campaigners pushing for cleaner air.

Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast and Benin promised in late 2016 to ban the use of fuel packed with sulphur that is a major air pollutant, particularly in cities.

Such fuel has long been illegal in western nations and is increasingly outlawed in the developing world. But deadlines for bans in the four West African states keep being pushed back, Reuters said.

In South Africa, meanwhile, the planned upgrading of oil refineries to produce Euro 5-specified fuels are likely to take longer than initially anticipated. This delay has raised concerns about possible increases in petroleum product imports and the potential shutdown of the nation’s existing refineries, according to Shem Oirere, an energy journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya.

“This delay has raised concerns about possible increases in petroleum product imports and the potential shutdown of the nation’s existing refineries,” he said.

Across the continent, Ghana is the only regional state that has delivered on a pledge and codified rules preventing the import or transport of high sulphur petrol or diesel.

“The clean fuels lobby ... declared victory a bit too soon,” said the Energy Aspects analyst James McCullagh told Reuters. “This is ultimately a complicated and sensitive decision about politics, the gasoline pump price cap, subsidies and investment in public health.”

Nigeria, the region’s biggest fuel consumer, missed a July 1 deadline and instead launched a task force to examine the issue. Nigeria produces oil but lacks refining capacity so has to import most oil products.

A Nigerian environment ministry official said the task force aimed to advise the government on a new standard by the later part of this month, with new rules possible by December 1.

The United Nations Environment Programme, which has joined health campaigners pressing for change, said smaller nations Togo and Benin were waiting for Nigeria to act, while Ivory Coast had not progressed at all.

The five nations had promised cleaner fuel rules under pressure from campaign group Public Eye, which criticised them and international trade houses for allowing cars, trucks and households to burn fuels banned in much of the rest of the world.

Ghana followed up by slashing

sulphur content to 50 ppm for imported petrol and diesel, from 1,000 ppm and 3,000 ppm.

Nigeria’s standards organisation, which writes import rules, proposed caps of 50 ppm for diesel and 150 ppm for petrol. The state oil firm NNPC included prices for them in contracts to swap oil for products – at a cost of at least US$25 a tonne more.

But Nigeria did not codify the standards in law, or issue new specifications to importers. “As it stands, the status quo remains,” one Nigerian fuels importer said, adding “nothing at all” had come from government.

Campaigners are struggling to keep the issue on the public agenda. David Ugolor, a Nigeria-based campaigner who worked with Public Eye, said the cause lacked “someone with a strong political position” to implement the rules.

NNPC contracts showed 150 ppm petrol would cost anywhere from $20 to $30 per tonne more than fuel with higher sulphur, while lower sulphur diesel would add just $10 to $15 a tonne, Mr McCullagh said. Because Nigerian petrol prices are capped, the government would have to raise prices for consumers or shoulder the extra cost.

Given the higher cost of cleaner petrol, campaigners said Nigeria might only introduce stricter rules for diesel.

“Gasoline is the most consumed product, so that wouldn’t necessarily solve the pollution problem,” said David Bleasdale, the executive director of consultancy Citac, adding Nigerian petrol consumption was about 323,055 barrels per day (bpd) in 2016 compared with 71,657 bpd of distillates, such as diesel.

Back in South Africa, Nico Vermeulen, the director of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, said: “The industry, for some years now, has been taxed, but the fuel that would enable the industry to rise to the challenge of environmentally friendly, lower-emissions vehicles is not available. That appears to be unfair.”