DPR warns oil marketers against scarcity, profiteering

The director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mordecai Ladan, has warned petroleum products depots and owners of filling stations across the country against diversion of the products.

Ladan, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, also warned oil marketers against hoarding, pump manipulation and selling the products above approved prices.

The statement came against the backdrop of the purported resurgence of fuel scarcity in parts of the country.

He warned that any marketer found to be under-dispensing or selling products above regulated prices would be suspended for a minimum of two months.

“Any Marketer caught diverting or hoarding the products for profiteering shall be sanctioned with a fine of N2 million and will have his operating license revoked. Such operator also risk prosecution for national economic sabotage,” he said.

The director also stated that DPR was collaborating with Petroleum Equalisation Fund and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency to ensure that defaulters were sanctioned accordingly.

It stated that all DPR offices nationwide had been directed to step up monitoring activities and ensure full compliance by marketers.