• The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has issued new guidelines for gasoline importation licensing.
• The NMDPRA said the old guidelines enforced by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had been revoked.
• The agency revealed that the new regulations also provide for fines and penalties for violating the regulations.

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has been reporting on technology, energy, stocks, investing and the economy for over a decade.

The Nigerian government, through the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), has unveiled new regulations aimed at simplifying gasoline importation licensing and other industry operational rules and has grouped together in a single document.

The NMDPRA said the old guidelines for midstream and downstream operations operated by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) have become obsolete and revoked.

FG will release new guidelines soon

The NMDPRA operations proposed for 2024 will allow the regulator to reduce the complexities associated with navigating and implementing many regulations in the petroleum sector.

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The Director General of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, said during a stakeholder engagement on the proposed operating rules on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 in Abuja that the move was in line with section 216 of the Mining Act. Petroleum Industry (PIA), which requires consultation of stakeholders before finalization of regulations.

The NMDRA boss said the proposed regulations would consolidate 12 of the agency’s previously issued regulations.

According to him, the regulations would be read alongside other rules by the agency, including the Downstream and Downstream Petroleum Royalty Regulations, which authorize the establishment of prescribed royalties for these activities.

The new directive provides for fines and penalties

Energy experts believe that the Regulations on Petroleum Royalties in the Midstream and Downstream Sector will soon be published in the Federal Government Gazette.

Punch reports that the agency’s legal advisor, Joseph Tolorunse, said the aim of the regulation was to consolidate the 16 draft regulations and streamline them for easy reference.

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Tolorunse said the authority had discovered that having many regulations would be a burden on the industry.

He added that the regulations also provide for fines and penalties for violating the rules.

Oil traders decide to import gasoline

Oil marketers revealed that the volume of gasoline produced by the Dangote refinery could not meet domestic demand.

Following this development, traders plan to import the product to compensate for the refinery’s supply gap.

TUC calls on Dangote refinery to increase production

Traders agreed with the Trade Union Congress to demand that the facility increase production, with some saying the refinery was producing about 10 million liters of gasoline per day compared to the promised 25 million liters.

According to reports, on September 15, 2024, when the plant began marketing oil, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) was supposed to load 16.8 million liters of gasoline from the refinery.

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The 16.8 million liters contrasts with the 25 million the factory said it would discharge to NNPC daily.

NNPC sells gasoline to traders again

Legit.ng earlier reported that the NNPC had agreed to sell petrol to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) at N995 per litre.

The development comes amid the Department of State Services’ intervention in the standoff between traders and the state oil company.

Hammed Fashola, National Vice President of IPMAN, revealed that the intervention of the DSS solved the problems of several marketers.

Source: Legit.ng