The Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Mordecai Ladan, says the agency has commenced a review of its guidelines to ensure that no one builds fuel depots without retail outlets for distribution.

Ladan stated this in Lagos on Saturday at the inauguration of a new filling station along the Lekki-Ajah Expressway by Northwest Petroleum & Gas Company Limited.

The director, who was represented by the agency's Head, Downstream, Mr. Usman Ndanusa, said the move was aimed at addressing the abuses in the downstream segment of the oil and gas sector.

"Rather, the department is in alignment with government's aspiration of improving Nigeria's refining capacity by strengthening its oversight function in the petroleum sector," it said.

Speaking on the need to maintain good operational standards, Ladan said, "The DPR will not shy away from dealing with any marketer that fails to do the right thing. Eight filling stations in Kwara State were recently shut for malpractices.

"We are in the process of reviewing the guidelines to ensure that before we approve any depots for you to build, you must show us the evidence that you have the capacity to distribute. In essence, we want to remove traders out of the system, because Nigerians have suffered enough because of the leakages in the system."

According to him, there are some so-called bulk purchasers who just trade, adding that they would just corner products and resell at exorbitant prices.

He said, "That is why I commend the effort of Northwest to continue to supply products. What we expect from all operators is for us to jealously do our bit. This country belongs to us; if we undermine it, we will stay undermined.

"Downstream, as far as the petroleum industry is concerned, doesn't contribute much in terms of money, but it affects the common man right from the village to the urban centres. There is nobody in the country that doesn't depend, in one way or the other, on activities in the downstream. And abuses and undermining of the processes are becoming so much."