By Harrison EDEH
THE debut of Dangote Petrochemical Refinery into the Nigerian petroleum market has been described as a major milestone in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The refinery’s entrance into the market has generated several reactions, especially with the unveiling of its colourless premium motor spirit (PMS) product popularly referred to as fuel in Nigeria.
Expectedly, the Dangote’s production will impact billions of dollars of trade in fuel markets regionally and beyond. Nigeria is a global demand sink for fuel, receiving almost 250,000 barrels a day in shipments last year, mostly from Europe, according to data from the analytics firm, Vortexa Ltd.
During a press run, Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Group showcased a sample of their fuel in a bottle while saying “This is the sample of the petrol. You see it as a different colour, but that is the real deal. You are now going to have a good and genuine product.”
The colour or lack thereof of the petrol has lead to questions that seek answers are whether ‘colourless’ petrol qualifies as the best fuel by most Nigerians.
Social critique and activist, Charles Oputa popularly known as ‘Charly Boy’ had taken to his official X handle to praise Dangote Refinery products as of premium quality.
Regarding why Dangote fuel is white, Charles Oputa said, “The reason why the PMS issue is like water. Petrol has different colours, when it’s red, it means octane was added. When it’s slightly Green then Octane is slightly very much. When it is yellow, it means it has no lead in it. That means it’s unleaded. But when it’s clear as water as seen in the video, then you should know that ethanol was used. What ethanol does is that it improves engine efficiency and power.”
“Because ethanol has a good amount of oxygen, it lessens the amount of carbonation in engines by reducing air pollution which comes as carbon dioxide. So, this is the best form of Petrol,” Charles Oputa said in his official X handle: @AreaFada1.
The information provided by Charles Oputa had some misleading facts about colouration as being white fuel does not necessarily qualify any fuel as good.
Informed energy analysts said the colours of petrol do not necessarily indicate the presence of additives like octane or ethanol.
“There’s so much ignorance in the country. The colour is also for identification. The fact that petrol is reddish or colourless doesn’t mean it’s bad. Lots of factors are considered for high-quality fuel like density, lead content, a band of colouration and even benzene,” the former chairman of the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN) Adetunji Oyebanji told The ICIR.
“The colour of gasoline (petrol) is transparent by nature, but you will encounter it in red, green, yellow, brown, blue, pink, or even purple. Why does it have so many colours? This is because petrol manufacturers have added fuel dyes to this liquid with the prospect of classifying different gas types” reads a blog post on the website of Rex Energy, an oil and gas exploration company in the United States (US).
In some countries, colours – fuel dyes – are required by law to be added to serve as an indicator for use, low tax, higher tax, or untaxed.
In the United Kingdom (UK) for instance, fuel dyed red are for registered agricultural or construction vehicles such as tractors, excavators, cranes, and some other non-road applications such as boats. The red fuel is cheaper and it’s illegal to use it for cars.
According to a BBC report, the red fuel works in the same way as the normal one, but it is chemically dyed to make it more identifiable because it is taxed at a lower rate.
Petrol station in England, with ‘red diesel’ available for a lower price, but only for “off road use”, i.e. agricultural machinery and similar. PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Edkins, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13531495
Former president of the Nigerian Society for Petroleum Engineers, Joe Nwakwue, told The ICIR, while clarifying further, that there are two major contents used in rating quality – which comprises octane rating and sulphur content.
“The efficiency of the fuel is related to the octane rating. The colour you see in petrol terms is to distinguish different fuel types. Dangote’s fuel quality is Euro V.
“Afri V as recommended by ECOWAS is 50 parts per millions (ppm) of sulphur. Euro V is 10 ppm of sulphur – that is higher grade,” Nwakwue told The ICIR.
Nwakwue noted that a few years back, most Nigerians had their car engine damaged as a result of higher quantity of ethanol on imported fuel, citing the importance of regulatory oversight on monitoring the specification of ethanol to be added on imported petroleum products.
What is the right certified specification for Nigeria’s petrol
The properties for Afri V specifications include a lead content of 5, Sulphur content of 50, Benzene content of 1, Aromatics-42, Density at 15 degrees celsius, and Ethanol content of 10.
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According to the business-mogul, the lower sulphur content means fewer toxic emissions are released into the air, therefore, making the product cleaner and better for the environment.
He said this petrol will help the engines, vehicles, generators, the health of people, and the environment will not be polluted.
What is the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Standards
According to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), refined oil products used in Nigeria will be limited to a maximum sulphur content of 200 parts per millions (ppm). The new regulation came into effect on March 1, 2024.
The NMDPRA stated that this regulation is part of a long-term goal of limiting sulphur content to 50 ppm in the future. The regulator has yet to provide a definitive timeline for reaching this target. Enforcement of the regulation will be conducted at the port of origin through the import documentation process.
The new regulation follows an international trend and adoption of clean energy model. The Netherlands, a major exporter of petrol to West Africa, has recently limited its exported road fuels to a maximum sulphur content of 50 ppm for low- and middle-income countries.
Expert’s comment
An oil sector governance expert, Henry Ademola Adigun told The ICIR that Dangote’s product passed the standardisation test on high quality.
“To be fair, the Dangote fuel is of a very good quality. His fuel Euro V met the target of Afri 5 which is the standard specification set by the ECOWAS,” he added.
The ICIR had earlier reported the visit of some Nigerian lawmakers from the National Assembly which did an independent assessment of the petrol quality of Dangote Refinery. They lauded the standard and countered the claim by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) that it has not licenced the refinery over concerns of quality.
*This report was republished from The ICIR. You may read the original article here.
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