ERB introduces ‘fuel marking’

ERB Chief Executive Officer, Langiwe Lungu

ERB Chief Executive Officer, Langiwe Lungu (Picture by Albert Mpezeni)

The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) will from 15th February introduce a programme called fuel marking aimed at safeguarding the interest of all stakeholders in the petroleum industry.

Fuel marking is a process of adding an invisible biochemical substance to all legitimately sold fuel in the country, and the subsequent monitoring of the marker concentration levels using appropriate proprietary detection equipment.

Speaking at the inaugural fuel marking stakeholders meeting in Lusaka, ERB Chief Executive Officer, Langiwe Lungu says research findings by the board in the recent past have shown discrepancies in the sales statistics of some industry players with regard to domestic kerosene.

Ms Lungu says this suggests that the kerosene could have been used to adulterate fuel or somehow linked to illegal fuel vending.

She explains that fuel marking will be done by dosing an appropriate marker directly into fuel tankers at the government designated loading depots or oil marketing company depots as declared by the Minister prior to dispatch into the domestic market and export.

Ms Lungu says fuel marking will be extended to all imported petroleum products destined for the local market including low sulphur diesel for the mines at the discharge depot or from the nearest designated government or OMC depot.

The ERB Chief Executive Officer says in order to facilitate effective monitoring of the marker concentration in the supply chain and carry out enforcement action, the board has set up a fuel marking and monitoring unit within the directorate of technical regulation to monitor the concentration of the marker throughout the supply chain.

And giving an overview of the fuel marking, ERB Technical Regulation Director Allen Polito says the board will suspend or revoke the licence of a licensee found in possession of or selling, distributing, transporting non conforming petroleum products.

 

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