FG To Sanction Oil Marketers After 633 People LosetTheir Lives In Oil Operation

The Federal Government issued a warning on Wednesday in response to the increasing number of fatal accidents involving tanker drivers, filling stations, and depots, which have claimed 633 lives in less than four years.

With regard to their negligent management of health, safety, and the environment, particularly while shipping and unloading petroleum products, it pledged to penalise responsible oil marketers working in the downstream sector.

At a meeting with petroleum product transporters and retailers on Wednesday in Abuja, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority gave a presentation that revealed a total of 633 fatalities had been reported in the downstream oil sector as of that point in 2018, 2021, and 2022.

Even though the presentation omitted the data for 2019 and 2020, it claimed that 388 occurrences were to blame for the fatalities.

According to the NMDPRA, there were 412 deaths from 244 events in the downstream sector in 2018, 173 deaths from 103 incidents in 2021, and 48 fatalities from 41 occurrences from 2022 to the present.

Maijiddah Abdulkadir, the NMDPRA's North-Central Regional Coordinator, denounced the situation and said that the authority will resume its HSE technical audits, the results of which would be utilised in consultation with other directorates to issue different licences.

“The HSE technical audit will evaluate the adequacy of the HSE requirements, competency and training of staff engaged by the operators.

“This will no longer be business as usual, it is now safety first, the NMDPRA would ensure that the aspirations of the Federal Government by passing the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act) are achieved.

“The law has provided in clear terms that in the case of negligence by any operator, such operator would be sanctioned accordingly,” she stated.

Nevertheless, Abdulkadir clarified that the government's goal was not to punish operators but rather to make sure that activities were carried out safely to safeguard people, property, and the environment, which was the motivation behind the Wednesday meeting with oil marketers and transporters.

“HSE needs to be on the front burner to attract growth to the business, reduce insurance premiums and protect the public, which you are a member of.

“And for us to achieve the following, we must reawaken the safety consciousness in our operations,” she told the marketers and fuel transporters.

According to Abdulkadir, the discussion's goal was to urge effective HSE management in activities involving the transportation of petroleum products in the downstream sector.

“This, of course, is key for adequate profitability in the sector.

“The proper approach to achieve this lies in the fact that HSE should be managed from a business perspective and not for compliance purposes only.

“This is to say that HSE-related matters should be integrated into the management decision-making process.

“The NMDPRA will always want to engage operators on the need to fully comply with relevant HSE laws and regulations as stipulated in the PIA,” she stated.

The NMDPRA official stated that the agency was hiring operators to prevent the hazards and dangers associated with unsafe practices and noncompliance with legal requirements on HSE in the transportation of petroleum products, including petrol.

“The engagement is to also create awareness and a culture of safe operations to protect persons, assets, and the environment, thereby eliminating accidents, and the cost of replacing damaged parts and this is the sure way to profitability,” Abdulkadir stated.