The Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has dismissed a report about the existence of killer gas in the market just as the stakeholders in the gas industrial sub-sector have spoken of the need to review the standard of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders and other equipment in the Nigerian market.

Speaking during a gas stakeholders meeting held at the Lagos office of the DPR, the Head, Gas Division, Engineer O.C. Okparaojiako, allayed the fear of the people and said the claim of killer gas or cancerous gas was unfounded.

However, the stakeholders came to the conclusion that most of the cylinders currently in circulation in the country are old and that there is need to recertify them.

The DPR boss explained that neither the Department nor the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) has certified any gas either sourced locally or imported as unfit for domestic use on account of being substandard.

The clarification came in the wake of complaints by some retailers and consumers that there were reports and text messages circulating to the effect that certain gas was not good for domestic use.

Okparaojiako emphasised that contrary to the claims, the gas from Niger Republic is not bad and that members of the public have nothing to fear. He said the industry should be happy that there is a gas from other sources, adding that there were other more critical issues that should be of concern to Nigerians on the use of gas.

Okparaojiako disclosed that though efforts are on to review the standard set by SON on gas and its equipment quality, no gas in the country has been found to be below the existing standard.

He stated that the problem in the gas industry was not much about the gas itself but the handling and wrong choice of equipment like the burners, valves, regulators and the cylinders.

Rather than creating fears in the people by branding a gas as fake, the DPR Director said the stakeholders should engage the people more on the handling of the product noting that members of the public should be made aware the under filing of cylinder amounts to cheating while overfilling could lead to death.

The stakeholders expressed concern over the negative effect of the report and urged stakeholders to exercise restraints on the spread of such report in an attempt to de-market competitors, as it was capable of making the consumer lose interest in the use of gas.

Some of the stakeholders condemned the spread of false information as a marketing strategy by the gas dealers to outwit one another saying if not for the gas import from Niger Republic, the product would have been very scarce and the price would have shot up beyond the reach of the consumers.

The SON representative expressed regret over some underhand dealers by some gas sector players who take SON number already assigned to a cylinder to places like China and India to manufacture substandard cylinders and assign the number to it to deceive the people as having been certified SON.

To curb this development, he disclosed that the SON is collaborating with other agencies to fashion out a law that would make it an offence for any plant owner to fill gas into substandard cylinders.

According to him, more than 60 per cent of cylinders in use in the country are aged. He promised that standards for cylinders would be reviewed every five years to pre-qualify them.

The meeting which was attended by SON representatives, members of the Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers, LPG Retailers Association of Nigeria, and gas dealers.

•Photo shows DPR Director, Austine Olorunsola.

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