General News
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Abeokuta field office, has warned illegal cooking gas skid operators in the state to regularise their operations or risk being shut and prosecuted.
The DPR Controller of Operations, Mrs Muinat Bello-Zagi, gave the warning while speaking with journalists on Thursday in Abeokuta, shortly after meeting with the state chapter of Cooking Gas Skid Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (CGSPAN).
Bello-Zagi said that, in the last two years, the DPR had been engaging and educating gas skid operators on the need to conform to the laws and operational guidelines.
Although the controller said that government’s plan was to increase domestic cooking gas usage within the country, she, however, added that DPR would not compromise safety in the process of encouraging gas usage as an alternative to kerosene.
“We have been clamping down on illegal gas skid operators before now; we have sealed some gas operations that were perceived to be unsafe.
”We will continue to seal them if they continue to operate in an unsafe manner,” she said.
Bello-Zagi noted that the meeting would afford the skid gas operators the opportunity to avail themselves of the new DPR guidelines.
She said that the department would not hesitate to seal and prosecute any erring gas skid operator found wanting.
“We have been engaging them, but we want to regularise their operations. We want it to be in tandem with the aspirations of government in increasing the domestic gas usage within the country.
“We have decided to meet with them, educate them, create awareness and let them understand the guidelines. We want them to conform to the operational guidelines. We even went further to proffer solutions to some of the issues raised.
“The concern now is the spacing requirement, which is necessary because it will help avert danger if there is leakage of gas. Unfortunately, all the operators did not meet it,” she said.
The DPR controller, who explained that spacing would help leaked gas to diffuse before it would ignite, said that spacing requirement was that it must be 15 metres from the end of any LPG tank to the boundary of adjourning property.
”Most of them are operating on very small piece of land and we said that is not going to work; it is very unsafe.
“We told them that they can unite and form alliance. Four or three of them can come together; it will increase their profitability and reduce their risk. However, we will continue to engage them”, Bello-Zagi said.
The DPR chief also advised the operators to look into the use of compressed natural gas (CNG), saying that it was cheaper, safer and more environmental-friendly.
The state Chairman of CGSPAN, Alh. Surajudeen Bada, who spoke on behalf of his members, implored DPR to amend its laws and guidelines, saying that what applied to gas plant operators could not apply to gas skid operators.
Bada stressed the importance of safety in their operations, insisting that it was not logical to apply the same laws and guidelines for gas skid operators and gas plant owners.
“We have always been cooperating with them, but the problem is that we want DPR to listen and know that skid operation is a new development in the scheme of things. The DPR is quoting the 1969 Act of Parliament.
“The DPR is just rolling out regulations, and to say that a 2.5 tons skid is the same thing as a plant is not logical,” Bada said.
He urged DPR to evolve a regulation for gas skid, as 2.5 tons capacity skid was not the same as having 20 or 50 tons capacity, adding that the same safety precautions could not be taken.(NAN)
-Sep 26, 2019 @ 16:03 GMT |
Tags: DPR warns gas skid operators Obey guidelines or be shut
