.Issues guidelines for the establishment, operations of downstream gas facilities
The Nigeria regulatory arm of Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has released guidelines for the establishment and operations of the following downstream gas facilities- guidelines for the establishment and operations of LPG refilling plants and retail outlets, guidelines for establishment of auto gas refuelling stations and add-on gas facility and guidelines for the establishment of gas storage and utilization.
The Director of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Sarki Auwalu stated that the guidelines stipulates the minimum requirements, procedures and conditions to be fulfilled before the grant of approvals or licences for the construction, installation, modification, takeover, relocation and operations of downstream gas facilities in Nigeria.
He said that the guidelines were developed to enhance gas penetration and utilization, enhance operational safety as well as ease of doing business in the oil and gas sector.
He said that companies intending to establish these facilities must satisfy all necessary requirements stipulated by DPR and obtain the underlisted applicable approvals:
• Site suitability approval
• Approval to Construct (ATC)/Approval to Install
• Licence to Operate
He said that necessary amenities and equipment’s like functional automated/manual leak tester, functional fire alarm system, and mounted gas detectors, adequate fire water storage and sprinklers, perimeter fence with fire wall amongst others must be provided in the facilities.
He stated that the objectives of the guidelines was to ensure that the baseline standard regarding HSE is achieved and maintained in all the facilities and that further details can be accessed from the Departments website -www.dpr.gov.ng by stakeholders and investors alike.
Meanwhile, the Director while further commiserating with the victims of the recent gas fire incident in Lagos informed that preliminary reports from DPR investigations revealed that the facility was operating without licence and was carrying out illegal operations which resulted in the unfortunate incident.
He promised that DPR will continue to update the public on the progress of its ongoing investigation into the incident while assuring that the Department will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure safe operations of all oil and gas facilities in Nigeria.
