How Filling Stations Patronize Illegal Local Refineries for Diesel
Photo of a big red oil tanker. There is long oil pipeline and cargo crane on deck of this ship. Vessel is steaming in blue, calm water to skyline under blue sky with smooth white clouds.
About 90 percent of diesel sold in filling stations in Nigeria are produced by local refineries operating illegally in different communities of the Nigeria Delta.
This was disclosed by the Executive Director, Operations & Technical, Tantita Security Services (TSS) Ltd, Capt. Warredi Enisuo.
Tantita is owned by the Niger Delta warlord, Government Ekpemupolo, who is known as Tompolo. His company was contracted to check illegal crude oil theft some years ago.
According to Enisuo who spoke on the occasion of the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) summit held in Abuja recently, most of the diesel sold in filling stations in Nigeria is refined by local communities in the Niger Delta.
In a news report published by Thisday Newspaper, Enisuo said almost all the oil companies patronise those who illegally refine crude oil.
Speaking on the theme “ Exploring Nigeria’s Content Solutions to Meet Energy Demand”, he however said the reason cheap, illegal diesel was no longer available was as a result of the hard work that his company, Tantita, has done to stop oil theft in the Niger Delta, adding that oil communities must no longer be ignored.
He said, “Why is there no scarcity of diesel (right now)? There is scarcity of PMS (petrol). The story is simple. Most of the diesel you buy is brewed (refined) by the communities.
“ Don’t let any fuel station deceive you, 90 per cent of the diesel in fuel stations are produced by the communities. It will also interest you to know that even the oil companies, they patronise the local diesel refineries. Don’t let anybody deceive you.
“But they do it illegally and behind the doors. So, as we go with the local content, the board has a lot to do with people with this skill and character. I’m not too sure how much your act has done to establish infrastructure, but to be honest with you, we might need to focus more on the communities”.
“The reason why the price of diesel is high today is because of the work of the private security companies like my company, because we have been able to somehow cut down on a lot of the business, a lot of the illegal refining going on. That is why you see the cost of diesel going up.
“Let the communities take on the responsibility of ownership, a sense of belonging. This is why we are making progress. If you give them that sense of responsibility, you should not forget what happened in Niger Delta. But if you put them somewhere where you feel you can outsmart them…these guys will out-greed you,”
This was disclosed by the Executive Director, Operations & Technical, Tantita Security Services (TSS) Ltd, Capt. Warredi Enisuo.
Tantita is owned by the Niger Delta warlord, Government Ekpemupolo, who is known as Tompolo. His company was contracted to check illegal crude oil theft some years ago.
According to Enisuo who spoke on the occasion of the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) summit held in Abuja recently, most of the diesel sold in filling stations in Nigeria is refined by local communities in the Niger Delta.
In a news report published by Thisday Newspaper, Enisuo said almost all the oil companies patronise those who illegally refine crude oil.
Speaking on the theme “ Exploring Nigeria’s Content Solutions to Meet Energy Demand”, he however said the reason cheap, illegal diesel was no longer available was as a result of the hard work that his company, Tantita, has done to stop oil theft in the Niger Delta, adding that oil communities must no longer be ignored.
He said, “Why is there no scarcity of diesel (right now)? There is scarcity of PMS (petrol). The story is simple. Most of the diesel you buy is brewed (refined) by the communities.
“ Don’t let any fuel station deceive you, 90 per cent of the diesel in fuel stations are produced by the communities. It will also interest you to know that even the oil companies, they patronise the local diesel refineries. Don’t let anybody deceive you.
“But they do it illegally and behind the doors. So, as we go with the local content, the board has a lot to do with people with this skill and character. I’m not too sure how much your act has done to establish infrastructure, but to be honest with you, we might need to focus more on the communities”.
“The reason why the price of diesel is high today is because of the work of the private security companies like my company, because we have been able to somehow cut down on a lot of the business, a lot of the illegal refining going on. That is why you see the cost of diesel going up.
“Let the communities take on the responsibility of ownership, a sense of belonging. This is why we are making progress. If you give them that sense of responsibility, you should not forget what happened in Niger Delta. But if you put them somewhere where you feel you can outsmart them…these guys will out-greed you,”
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