The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Nasarawa State has sealed seven filling stations for various offences from January to date.

The state DPR comptroller, Ahmed Gwaram, said on Tuesday that the offences committed were under-delivery, diversion of product, lack of safety, among other related issues.

According to him, the affected filling stations included two unlicensed filling stations in Awe Local Government Area, while the rest were from other parts of the state.

He said that the affected stations were fined but were unsealed after the payment of the fines to the federal government.

The comptroller said that the erring stations were punished for breaching the laws guiding their operations, warning that DPR would not compromise the set standard for filling stations’ operation.

He said that surveillance teams were deployed to monitor proper fuel dispensing according to the regulated price.

He cautioned marketers against flouting government regulations and urged them to ensure proper dispensing at a regulated price approved by the federal government.

Mr Gwaram also admonished motorists to steer clear of illegal filling stations and to always patronise those selling unadulterated petroleum products.

“If there is fuel at the filling stations, why do you have to patronise black markets whose products may have been adulterated?” he asked.

“If you buy fuel from a filling station and your car develops any fault from it, you can report the problem to that filling station, but you cannot do that if you buy fuel from the roadside unregistered market,” he said.