Brittinia Nigeria Ltd., one of the companies mentioned in the alleged importation of adulterated fuel has denied any wrong doing, saying that the company has no hand in importing “off-spec’’ product.
The company made the announcement in Abuja on Friday in a public notice, entitled: “Refutal that Brittania-U was among oil and gas companies that brought off-spec Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) currently in circulation’’.
Brittania said: “the consortium product that arrived and discharged during Jan. 4 to Jan. 19, 2022 through five daughter vessels were duly certified as meeting NNPC product specifications.
It said further that all PMS from its mother vessel named MT Torm Hilde were discharged with relevant certificates of quality after laboratory analysis.
The company’s management noted that the product it imported was adjudged lead-free, ethanol-free, water-free and suspended matter-free.
It stated further that the product also had sulphur content of 0.0174 as against 0.05, which is within the acceptable content allowable by Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
“Brittania-U is concerned that while its consortium products have been discharged and dispensed at retail outlets in January, it is unwittingly now being linked with an issue of off-spec fuel induced scarcity that began around Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.
“In order to clear our company’s name, we have made all the documents available, which clearly exonerated our company from the negative publications making the rounds, all aimed at trying to tarnish our image.
“Brittania-U management is aware of the publication by Emadeb/Hyde/Aymaikifi Consortium partners and while we do not want to join issues with these companies, we want to affirm that what they stated does not relate to the issues at hand.
“Suffice it to state that Brittania-U’s record in the oil and gas industry, which covers the entire spectrum of upstream, midstream and downstream is impeccable.
According to Brittania-U, it should be noted that our company was among the first 24 indigenous oil and gas companies that started the petroleum importation business under the Petroleum Support Fund in 2008.
“This saw Brittania-U importing products for international oil companies such as Total Nigeria Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, some independents and the defunct PPPRA.’’
It will be recalled that bad fuel, known popularly as off-spec PMS was detected in the country about a fortnight ago, throwing the volatile energy sector into a fresh round of fuel scarcity crisis.
President Muhammadu Buhari has announced that people found culpable in the importation of the bad fuel would be punished as motorists in the top oil-bearing West African nation lament damages to their vehicles.
On Feb. 10, NNPC Ltd. disclosed that defaulting suppliers and importers of the methanol blended PMS would face the consequences.
According to NNPC, investigation has revealed the presence of methanol in four PMS cargoes imported by some Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase supplier companies, naming them as MRS, Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium, Oando and Duke Oil.
