The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Eket, Akwa Ibom, said it sealed 60 petrol stations in the state between January and December last year.

DPR Controller of Operations in Eket, Asuquo Antai, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket on Sunday.

Antia said that the stations were sealed for selling petroleum products above the government-approved pump price of N97 per litre, under dispensing and operating without license.

He said that the sealed stations were among the 215 visited by the department’s monitoring team during the period, and that it also sealed 18 stations in Cross River.

Antai said that the department would continue to monitor the quality and quantity of products lifted from the depots and received at the stations, to ensure that they met specifications.

“The depot owners were selling petroleum products above the approved price and the department intervened.

“We reminded them that government had subsidized the products and forced them to bring down the prices,’’ he said.

He, however, regretted that dealers in some areas still sold the products above the approved pump prices, but assured the consumers that the prices would soon normalize.

“They have started selling at depot prices. I expect that at the end of this week, the prices at the retail outlets will normalize,’’ he said.

The operations controller advised petroleum marketers in the state to shun unwholesome practices in their dealings to avoid the wrath of the department.

Antai restated the DPR’s commitment to monitoring petrol stations to ensure compliance with Federal Government’s directives on sale of the products.

“It is a continuous thing; we will keep going round and ensure that the prices of the products are stable. We will also ensure that the products are dispense appropriately,’’ Antai said. (NAN)