The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), has advocated the need for strong regulation of the sale and distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), saying the development would check the alarming level of gas explosion in Nigeria.

Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, its chairman, gave the advice at a zoom conference on the “Challenges and Impact of a Deregulated Downstream Sector on Nigeria’s economy’’,hosted by the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC).

He also expressed grave concerns over the multiplicity of cooking gas plants in the country and usage of unsafe trucks in conveying petroleum products.

“Most of these trucks do not have modern safety gadgets in case of a roll over. They don’t have tracking devices because their owners don’t have funds to invest on new fleets. We believe that with the deregulation of the downstream sector, more investments will come in across the value chain,’’.

He expressed his association’s support for the deregulation of the downstream section, but emphasised the need to ensure that the quality of petroleum products being sold to customers should be regulated to ensure that they meet the minimum standards.

He also said some of government’s agencies that existed before deregulation came into force must give way to the new reality of market forces of petroleum products in the country.

He announced that his association is partnering with the National Assembly and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources with a view to ensuring that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would enhance the development of the industry when passed into law.

He added that the proposed petroleum legislation would create a new regulator that would focus solely on the downstream sector unlike the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).