For years it was one of the Netherlands’ most remarkable export products: petrol and diesel in which all kinds of polluting and harmful substances were mixed. Oil companies such as Shell legally exported these from Dutch ports, mainly to West African countries.
That export is now coming to an end. The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) has stricter rules imposed to oil companies for the export of these polluted fuels. From Monday it is no longer allowed to ship these abroad – at least from the Netherlands.
The ILT already established in 2018 that oil companies mix sulphur, benzene and manganese in fuels and sell them to West Africa. These included Shell and BP, and oil trading companies such as Gunvor and Vitol. They take advantage of the fact that the environmental requirements for fuels in West Africa are lower. The admixed substances are residual products from the refining process, which can be processed relatively cheaply in this way. There were no standards for exports.
Duty of care breached
The ILT had research agency TNO find out exactly what consequences this had, in order to be able to hold companies accountable for their role. In 2021, the results of this investigation that the fuels have a negative impact on people’s health, for example due to increased particulate matter concentrations caused by sulphur. Benzene is carcinogenic, and a mixture of manganese and sulfur destroys a car’s catalytic converter. This in turn leads to additional emissions of other hazardous substances.
With the conclusions of TNO in its pocket, the Inspectorate addressed companies in 2021 about failing to fulfill their duty of care to protect people and the environment – something the service can maintain. This was followed by discussions between the Inspectorate and the sector. According to the ILT, the oil companies have indicated that they need a “level playing field”: they want to know exactly what they have to meet.
The service then decided to draw up new rules to make the duty of care concrete. Fuels may only contain 0.005 percent sulphur, gasoline may contain a maximum of 1 percent benzene. The amounts of manganese must also be reduced to six milligrams per litre. Until now, there was no standard for this.
It is a transition period; from April next year, the standards for sulfur and manganese will be lowered even further, says a spokesman for the ILT. From now on, the service will also carry out and enforce checks in the event of violations. The ILT also points out that Shell has already started exporting higher quality fuels since September 2021.
global player
It is important to note that the Netherlands is the first country to impose stricter requirements on the export of fuels, the ILT confirms. The export of contaminated fuels from other countries is theoretically possible. It is not clear exactly how large the market share of the Netherlands is, the service also acknowledges, but it suspects that this is large. “The Netherlands is a world-class player in the production of fuels,” said the spokesperson.
The industry itself believes that the impact of an export ban from one country is small – and therefore remains critical of the measure. The Dutch Petroleum Industry Association (VNPI) has announced that it supports the ILT’s aim to improve air quality. But according to the VNPI, the importing countries must set a standard themselves, because a Dutch export ban will have hardly any impact.
The quality of fuels has increased significantly in Europe in recent decades. According to the ILT, this is not the case in Africa. At the same time, the number of cars on this continent is expected to grow further in the coming years. That is why, according to the ILT, it is extra important that the emissions from cars there are not excessively polluting.
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