In this post we will be looking at meaning of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS), Fuel Depot Terminals and main components or units of a storage terminal.
INTRODUCTION
Earlier this week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), following criticism from the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) stated that between January and August 2022, the total volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported into the country was 16.46 billion litres, which translates to an average supply of 68 million litres per day. Similarly, import in the year 2021 was 22.35 billion litres, which translated to an average supply of 61 million litres per day.
The NNPC Ltd insisted further that the average daily evacuation (depot truck out) from January to August 2022 was 67 million litres per day. The company buttressed its point with reference to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), adding that the daily evacuation (depot loadouts) records of the NMDPRA carry daily oscillation ranging from as low as four million litres to as high as 100 million litres per day. Before the state oil company released the data, the NCS had questioned the claim that the country consumes 60 million litres of petrol daily as the Customs’ comptroller-general, Hameed Ali, at a session with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance alleged that as much as 98 million litres of the products were being lifted daily.
Read: Vessel / Tank Construction/ Fabrications
Some of the Petroleum Products Acronyms
PMS stands for Premium Motor Spirits popularly known as Gasoline or Petrol.
AGO stands for Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called DEISEL.
DPK stands for Dual Purpose Kerosene.
HHK stands for Household Kerosene (HHK) used for household purposes.
ATK stands for Aviation Turbine Kerosene
LNG stands for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
LPG stands for Liquified Petroleum Gas
Premium Motor Spirits (PMS)
Popularly known as Gasoline or Petrol, is primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum. Petroleum products are among the most valuable natural resources abundantly available in our country. Nigerians and people everywhere use petroleum products as a fuel in their automobiles, generating sets, industrial plants and for cooking purposes, thus making petroleum products an essential commodity that is needed for the daily operations of individual, industrial and national activities.
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Nigeria being an oil producing nation however still relies on imported petroleum products for the servicing of the economy. Such petroleum products as Petrol (PMS), Diesel (AGO) and kerosene (DPK) are products utilized by almost everybody on daily basis at an average of 60 million litres daily usage. Due to increasing level of standard of living, more Nigerians are increasing the number of cars on the road, the need for constant power supply to aid uninterrupted production of goods and services and also for domestic use more Nigerians are increasing the demand for fuel in order to enjoy the usage of their generating sets and industrial plants.
Fuel Depot Terminals.
Fuel products are not directly drawn from the source and transported to end-users; they are temporarily stored in designated facilities. Crude oil is produced from wells, transported to refineries for processing into various forms of fuel, and sent to extensive storage facilities where they are temporarily held. Fuel is most times further transported to mini-storage facilities or dispensing facilities for onward delivery to end-users. Storage facilities are sited in strategic locations guided by local and international regulations and company requirements. The size of a fuel storage facility depends mostly on the market analysis, the holding capacity desired, and regulation requirements.
Factors To Consider Siting a Storage Facility
- LOCAL REGULATIONS: Storage facilities are mostly restricted to designated areas. Most times, you find these storage facilities clustered in designated areas guided by local regulations. Generally, it is rare to see a new storage facility been constructed in a built-up area; they are sited at an appreciable distance away from residential areas.
- Health And Safety Considerations: Before any other factor is considered in sitting a storage facility, the safety of the environment and people is the topmost priority. Detailed Environmental Impact analysis of the storage terminal should be performed before the final decision of siting the facility.
- Market Analysis: Siting a storage facility is mostly dependent on the available market. The storage facility should be located close to the targeted market unless there are restrictions due to regulations. It is the best decision to locate the storage terminal close to where the highest demand for the products is expected; this will also reduce the cost of transporting the products to the end-users.
- Security: Security of storage terminal should be considered in the planning process. Storage terminals should not be sited in hostile communities or places susceptible to war. Security considerations should not be limited to the storage terminal, but also of the reception facilities and pipelines.
- Source of product/means of receiving the product: In many instances you find clusters of storage terminals close to refineries, these storage terminals store the refined products. It is a wise decision to site these facilities very close to reduce the cost of building long pipelines and associated infrastructures. Note that these storage terminals close to refineries are the primary storage facility for refined products. The products are further transported to other terminals.
Read: Foreigners Guide to Start Business in Nigeria
MAIN COMPONENTS OR UNITS OF A STORAGE TERMINAL
he components of a storage terminal vary depending on the design philosophy of the terminal. Terminals whose products are evacuated using pipelines may be slightly different from terminals that products are evacuated by trucks. Terminals that trucks are used for product evacuation are equipped with loading gantries; this is absent in terminal that products are evacuated using pipelines.
Also, the type of storage tanks in a terminal might be different depending on the products stored, examples are as follows:
- Tanks
- Main Firewater Pump/ Pump House
- Jockey Pumps
- Interconnecting Piping
- Valves
- Oily Water Separator
- Electricity generators
- Administrative building
- Control room
- Loading/Unloading Facilities