Businessman Husni Bey told our source that: “For a week, I have been following the mutual accusations between Brega Oil Marketing Company, accusing it of importing polluted and poor fuel, and private distribution companies and stations, accusing them of mixing fuel with impurities or poor storage with citizens who complain that their cars stopped and are damaged because of gasoline.”
He added: “Likewise, the citizens’ claim that the color of gasoline differs, presuming poor quality and adulterated gasoline are due to the difference in color from one station to another.
First, the difference in the color of gasoline is a normal thing because the color varies from one refinery to another. The purpose of the difference in colors is the possibility of tracing the source in case of pollution, if a leak occurred during sea and land transportation, so “the color has nothing to do with quality”. Secondly and most importantly “Specifications : Every country defines its own specifications for pollution and limits on the quality of fuels, taking into account the maximum limits for limiting emissions and environmental pollution.”
He continued by saying that “the most important polluting components were sulfur and lead.”
In Europe and Japan, ethanol is added to gasoline (by 5% to 10%) in order to reduce the pollution, adding that: “Unfortunately in Libya, we have not updated specifications for decades, and unfortunately each party accuses the other. The idea became to conspire against the Libyans, and neither party sought through dialogue the truth and the basis of the problem, its causes and how to develop the necessary solutions, as a map of the world has been attached showing the types of gasoline in each country with the limits of its sulfur components.
Western Europe also uses gasoline with low sulfur emissions and other polluting materials, and their specifications are environmentally friendly, known as Euro 2 and Euro 4 (the least emission) fuels.
Libya imports regular 95 octane gasoline, which is different from what the European specifications have reached (low emissions, environmental pollution), as the pollution rate in Libyan fuels is 400-600 ppm, while the Euro4 does not exceed 10ppm of sulfur.
Concerning why cars are facing problems from gasoline in Libya? He said: “When buying a car from the agent in Libya, usually the specifications for imported cars and engines are in line with the specifications of the fuels available in Libya, so that we do not find problems with new cars imported from the Libyan agent. But when we import used cars from Europe, Japan and Korea, the engine specifications are designed for those countries “the first place of sale”. Unfortunately, used car engines are facing problems with fuel in Libya.
In conclusion, he said: “Look for the cause of the problem instead of exchanging accusations or resorting to flimsy justifications without knowing the basis of the problem.” He added: “With this, I do not deny the possibility of other pollutants that may have bad effects on the engines, and that is why our duty is to search before accusing one party or another.”
