The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued a warning to depot owners against hoarding petroleum products in their facilities.

Sarki Auwalu, DPR’s head, issued the warning in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Mr. Auwalu said that the warning had become imperative following reports received by the agency on the unwholesome activities of some depot owners who have created artificial scarcity by hoarding products in some parts of the country.

According to him, their nefarious activities are causing untold hardship to Nigerians.

He said that from available records, there was product sufficiency in the country and that there was no need for such practices by these groups of unpatriotic citizens.

Mr. Auwalu emphasised that the DPR as the licence issuers to all oil and gas facilities in Nigeria including the depots, would not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions on any depot found wanting in this regard.

He noted that the agency had set up a special taskforce to intensify surveillance and monitoring of all depots to check this anomaly.

The director noted that DPR would continue to provide its regulatory focus of quality, quantity, integrity, and safety ( QQIS) for the  effective operations of the downstream sector.