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+---- Thread: Fuel tankers must be fitted with valves to prevent spillage, says DPR (/showthread.php?tid=24508)
Fuel tankers must be fitted with valves to prevent spillage, says DPR - Edoman - 10-31-2019
Fuel tankers must be fitted with valves to prevent spillage, says DPR
October 31, 2019
By Emeka Ugwuanyi
To stem incessant spillage of fuel by tankers with the attendant consequences, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has advised that petrol tankers be fitted withvalves.
The DPR also said it seemed better to return to the era of 33,000 litres maximum capacity for fuel tankers instead of the 45,000 litres being conveyed by many trucks.
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Acting Director, Mr Rufai Shakur, stated this at the 13th edition of the Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL Africa Downstream) conference in Lagos with the theme Growth, Innovation and Technology.
Shakur, represented by the DPR Zonal Operations Controller, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and Osun states, Mr Oluwole Akinyosoye, said the recommendations were the fallout from the agency’s yearly general meeting with its stakeholders.
He said the DPR was concerned about the frequency of tanker accidents across Nigeria, stressing that this could be as a result of the high volume of fuel being conveyed by the trucks. According to him, apart from endangering lives and properties, over-laden tankers also endanger the lifespan of Nigerian roads.
He said: “It was also recommended that all petrol tankers should be fitted with valves that would prevent spillage in event of a rollover. Think of it, if we had that, the recent inferno at Onitsha, arising from spillage from a petroleum taker would not have happened.
“The 2018 incident on Otedola Bridge and many other fire incidents consequent on truck rollover might also have been averted.”
He said it was safer and more efficient to use rail and pipelines for transporting of petroleum products. He noted that this was, however, being hampered by activities of vandals which needed to be tackled using modern technology.
Shakur, while commending the organisers of the conference, said the DPR would continue to support initiatives that would improve operations in the downstream sector.
Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream Sector), Hon. Alex Egbona, said the sector was very crucial to ordinary Nigerians due to its impact on their daily lives.
He said the committee had charged the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, during his recent budget defence, to ensure that refineries would working optimally within the next four years.
He said the lawmakers were planning to hold town hall meetings with critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta to find a lasting solution to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.