Encourage local technology of artisanal refineries, stakeholder urges FG
ort Harcourt —The
Government should encourage the local technology of artisanal refineries and refiners in the Niger Delta by modernising their operations for adoption as a national policy, an environmental justice activist has advocated
The environmentalist said this in reaction to the report from Stakeholder Democracy Network, SDN, that petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene refined by Niger Delta artisanal refiners, popularly called “Kpofire”, are of higher quality than those imported into the country.
SDN had announced that 91 samples of diesel, petrol and kerosene were taken from filling stations and artisanal refineries in Rivers, Bayelsa and Lagos states to world class laboratories in the United Kingdom for analysis.
Samples of artisanal diesel were reported as having sulphur levels of 1,523 parts per million, ppm, while samples from imported products contained up to 3,020ppm of sulphur, said SDN’s Calvin Laing.
Reacting to the report, Environmental Justice Activist and Executive Director of
Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC, Mr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, explained that he was aware that artisanal refined petroleum products were in high demand though he never knew it was because of its high quality.
Fyneface, who regretted that refined petroleum products imported by developed countries had higher quality, but the ones brought to Nigeria had lower quality, charged regulatory agencies to ensure petroleum products imported into the country meets stipulated standards.
The environmentalist who described the report by SDN as shocking and surprising revelation, urged the Federal Government to speed up the process of modular refinery licensing, which was promised the youths of the Niger Delta region by the government.