Forte Oil cuts ties with errant petrol stations
Forte Oil Plc (formerly AP Plc) on Sunday said it had terminated the contracts between it and four franchised filling stations, which were sealed by the Department of Petroleum Resources at the weekend for manipulating their dispensing pumps, among other offences.
The DPR had on Friday stormed several filling stations in Lagos, shutting down 12 stations including four bearing the name, Forte Oil at Oribanwa, Lakowe, Molete and Abule Folly in Ibeju Lekki.
Forte Oil, in a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Akinleye Olagbende, said, “Forte Oil wishes to inform the public and its stakeholders that it is aware of the article published in The PUNCH on August 22 titled ‘DPR seals NNPC, Forte Oil, 12 other petrol stations’.
“We wish to address the issue of the closure of these stations and state the accurate picture to the buying public and our stakeholders. The stations mentioned in the above-titled article are franchised stations and are not owned by Forte Oil Plc.”
The statement added, “We at Forte Oil have a robust compliance system ensuring that all stations branded under our name comply with all the regulations applicable to the downstream petroleum sector. This is codified in all our franchise agreements and non-compliance with these terms are penalised with instant termination of the said agreement.”
According to the company, among the terms of contract are pump integrity and ensuring that the price displayed at the station is compliant with the approved regulated price.
[Punch]