Revealed: 'Petrol From Illegal Refineries In Niger Delta Of Higher Quality Than Imported Ones'

A recent study has found that crude oil refined in non-formal refineries in the Niger Delta region for the black market have come out less toxic than that imported by the Nigerian Government from European countries.

A report on the analysis, conducted by experts, of the extra polluting and deadly effects of refined oil exported from Europe to the Nigerian market by The Guardian, has shown that Nigeria has become a dumping ground for oil that no other country with high-quality standards wants.

Big oil corporations like Chevron, Shell, and ExxonMobil, extract and export oil that is hardly ever refined in the country due to the years-long shuttered four refineries in the country.

The article states that "Instead, international dealers export to Nigeria around 900,000 tonnes a year of low-grade 'dirty' fuel" that are refined in Belgium and the Netherlands."

It is shocking, even to the researchers, to find that the oil "illegally" refined in the country is of a higher quality than what is imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, which leaves one to wonder if the regulators of oil in the country are keeping their eyes peeled on the issue of low-grade oil that is sold to Nigerians.

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Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), an NGO, in its analysis of the oil refined stealthily in pockets of the Niger Delta and those refined overseas, said, “Our research suggests that Nigeria is having dirty fuel dumped on it that cannot be sold to other countries with higher and better-implemented standards. The situation is so bad that the average diesel sampled are of an even lower quality than that produced by artisanal refining camps in the creeks of the Niger delta."

In a country with cities clogged with cars and other vehicles that need diesel and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) as propellants, not forgetting the generators that guzzle these substances in large quantities, one would expect that the regulatory body would come up with stringent measures that would ensure that pollution in the country sees a steady decline as in some western countries.

In a joint research conducted by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (HME), in 2017, over 64,000 Nigerians died from household air pollution, spawned from the burning of charcoal and wood for cooking.

Sulphur Standards

Although, these refined oils laden with high sulfur are rejected for use by European nations and various other western countries, however, the EU allows refineries in its region to refine oil products that do not meet their standards as long as have a need for them.

The SDN report stated that “The Niger delta already suffers environmental, health and livelihood impacts from decades of oil spill pollution, gas flaring and artisanal refining. This research indicates that it not only experiences the repercussions of producing crude oil, but also in the consumption of dirty official and unofficial fuels.” 

Nigeria is yet to fulfill its promise on reducing the sulphur levels in its fuel according to an agreement it came to with four other African nations including Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Benin in a bid to raise the quality of the fuel used in these countries.

While Ghana has reduced the sulphur levels present in the fuel it imports to 50 ppm (parts per million), Nigeria has reduced it to 150 ppm, with the previous limit set at 3,000 ppm for diesel, and 1,000 ppm for gasoline.

Switzerland, has for long set its sulphur level at 10 ppm.

SDN suggests that Nigeria should stand by its initial plan to reduce the sulfate particles, and once that happens, the emissions would fall by 500%, and while doing this, the government should look into collaborating with local refineries as it has been proven that the fuels refined in the country are of higher quality than those imported from Europe.

The initiative to work with local refiners would ensure that the country effectively sets and enforces the standard of sulphur that should be present in its refined crude products, which will subsequently improve the lives of those in the region where the fuels are refined.