The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said that trucks with capacity to carry over 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon products will not be allowed to load at depots as from March 1.
It announced that as from the fourth quarter of this year, no truck carrying more than 45,000 litres of petroleum products would be allowed to load from depots.
The agency’s Executive Director for Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, announced this at a media briefing yesterday in Abuja.
The announcement, according to him, followed the agency’s meeting with stakeholders in the industry, on the heels of recurring accidents and explosions caused by trucks overloaded with petroleum products.
He said: “Beginning from March 1, trucks with capacity in excess of 60,000 litres will not be allowed to load in any loading depot of petroleum products.
“By the fourth quarter of 2025, we will also preclude the loading of transportation of petroleum products of any truck in excess of 45,000 litres. That is the breaking news for today.”
Ukoha said the ban would be implemented in phases to give investors time to adjust to the directive.
According to him, the investors, especially truck owners, need time to redesign their trucks and redirect funding.
The union leader listed the stakeholders that agreed on the decision at the meeting as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), among others.
He said other stakeholders at the meeting included the Department of State Services (DSS), Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Federal Fire Service (FFS), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), MEMAN, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), IPMAN, Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN), SON,” he said.
