Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it has granted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) approval to go ahead with the plans to commence the importation of anhydrous ethanol into the country.

DPR Director, Tony Chukwueke, said the approval was granted in line with the corporation's application for permit to import about 15.848 metric tons of the fuel under its Automotive Biomass Ethanol Programme (ABEP).

Coming on the heels of the recent controversy kicked up by the importation of a similar fuel, which was later found to have been above the specification level approved for use by vehicles in the country, Chukwueke said the DPR has resolved to commit all importers of the product to sign an undertaking indicating that the consignments they are bringing into the country into the country comply with stipulated standards and specifications.

He said though the government has approved fuels with ethanol constituent levels of between zero and 10, the regulating agency prefers to allow products with ethanol level of between zero and 5, considering the absence of the appropriate equipment to test for fuels with constituents above the specified ethanol level.

He, however, assured that the agency has taken steps to acquire the required equipment that would facilitate adequate monitoring of the quality of products brought into the country to avoid the repeat of the sad experience of the recent past.

Reviewing other activities of the agency for the first quarter of the year, Chukwueke said 12 pipelines permits and licenses were issued out of 41 applications received, while 30 oil pipeline licenses were issued out of the 190 received during the period.

Besides, he disclosed that out of a total of 455 applications received for petroleum products retail outlet and marketing licences and permits, 25 were processed in industrial consumer category ("AA" Licence), 383 in the retail outlet category ("BB" Licence) and 108 in the kerosene category ("CC" Licence).