By Uthman Salami
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said that it has shut down 103 illegal filling stations and 13 gas plants in Lagos.
The Department said, the shut down became necessary after filling stations and gas plants which were located on the mainland and island axis had been operating without a valid license.
They also attributed the decision to shut the companies down for non-compliance with stipulated guidelines and international safety standards respectively.
This revelation was made known by the DPR’s Zonal Operations Controller for Lagos, Mr Ayorinde Cardoso on Tuesday.
Cardoso pointed out that the outlets were shut down after a surveillance exercise by DPR task force teams on Monday.
Cardoso said that during the exercise, the task force from the regulatory agency visited 216 facilities across the state as part of its continuous exercise to improve their safety.
According to him, “This is a continuous exercise by the DPR to improve safety in selling and distribution of LPG in Lagos State. The task force visited 216 facilities and observed that 103 petroleum products retail outlets lacked the prerequisite approval and were subsequently shut down.”
He further revealed thathat the LPG plants were shut down for also operating without prerequisite approval or license from the regulatory agency.
He added that some of the sealed plants were operating in unapproved locations, stressing that the move was aimed at reducing the occurrence of gas explosion and fire incidents in Lagos State.
Earlier in March 2021, the DPR announced that it shut down 86 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plants in Lagos State in 2020 for operating illegally.
This is coming at a time when there have been several reported cases of explosions at gas stations in the state with several fatalities and destruction of properties.
The oil and gas industry regulator and even the Lagos State Government have been on a clampdown of gas stations that have been operating illegally or without approval.
Lagos State Government as part of the measure to reduce gas explosion had earlier announced a ban on the location of gas plants in residential areas.