The Department of Petroleum Resources on Wednesday threatened to withdraw licence of petroleum products marketers selling above recommended prices.
Mrs Dorothy Bassey, the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of DPR, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
NAN reports that the warning followed reports of sharp practices in some petrol stations and depots.
Bassey said that the agency had warned marketers several times against malpractices associated with petroleum products marketing.
She said that a new regime of stringent penalties against malpractices would soon begin at filling stations and depots.
Bassey said that the agency had directed its 24-hour monitoring team to carry out surveillance on stations that were profiteering.
According to her, any station caught selling above official pump price of petrol would be sealed and fines imposed.
She said that licence of such stations would be withdrawn if they persisted with such illegal activities.
“The essence is to force the hands of the marketers to do the right thing.
“It has been observed that some marketers have yet to fully conform to government directives on pump price of N 86 and N 86.50, respectively.
“The department will continue to impose necessary sanctions on erring marketers that violated petroleum industry regulations,” she said.
The DPR spokesperson warned marketers selling above the official pump prices to revert to the approved prices of Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency to avoid being sanctioned.
“We have been instructed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to sanction all erring marketers.
“We are going to seal those stations selling above pump price and distribute their products free. We will seal them and will not reopen them until after three months,” she said.
Bassey said that the agency would also monitor stations in the hinterland to check malpractices in the areas.
NAN
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