
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has sealed 19 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (also known as cooking gas) stations in Delta State.
The Delta State Coordinator, NMDPRA, Mr Victor Ohwodiasa, in a session with journalists yesterday, claimed that the facilities lacked licences and were sealed over safety concerns.
According to him, most of the sealed stations are the Category D class of LPG operators. He explained that they were those within localities that refill gas from licenced gas plants for customers.
He allegedly that the big plants and the category D outlets that were sealed were operating without prerequisite approvals, and are all sited in unsafe locations.
He said that the stations were sealed in operation areas such as Warri, OgwashiUkwu and Orerokpe. He further allegedly that some were found to have engaged in what he called ‘decanting’, which he said meant that they were doing a bottle-to-bottle transfer of gas.
Ohwodiasa said: “During the operations, about 28 illegal outlets were spotted by the Authority. We tried to see if it is possible to have them regularised as they were wrongly sited.”