“The high level of manganese in the gasoline supplied on October 23, 2019 is due to an oversight on the part of the Vitol company”: This is the response of Minister of Commerce Soodesh Callychurn to the Private Notice Question from the leader of the opposition this Saturday June 19. The minister pointed out that in the initial contract at Mangalore, it was defined that the maximum level of manganese was 2 milligrams per liter of gasoline. However, there was an oversight on the part of the office that prepared the call for tenders. These specifications were used for the contract awarded to Vitol.
It was the Motor Vehicles Dealers Association (MVDA) that alerted authorities to the poor quality of gasoline between October 2019 and the end of December 2019 because of a high concentration of manganese.
The minister also conceded that the octane rating was 94.7 instead of 95 and that there was up to 13 milligrams of ‘exist gum’ instead of 4 milligrams at the most, as well as up to 18 milligrams of ‘potential gum’ instead of 4 milligrams maximum.
In a statement issued Jan. 31, 2021, the State Trading Corporation (STC) declined any responsibility for the high level of manganese and iron in gasoline.
