The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it had come up with a strategy for the automation and digitisation of all approvals, permits and licences issued in the downstream division under the Automated Downstream System (ADS), The Punch reports.

According to the DPR, the ADS is made up of permits and licences issued in the Retail Outlet and Marketing, the Products, Depots and Jetties and the Hydrocarbon Processing Plants units. It said the implementation was phased, with online processing of Category A, B, C Licences starting first and followed by Coastal Vessel Licence.

Application for Category A, B, C Licenses comprises Category A (petroleum storage licence), Category B (petroleum storage and sales licence) and Category C (kerosene peddling licence). The agency said it was consolidating the gains achieved on the central electronic licence and permit system, a repository system for managing the application and processing of all electronic permits and licences processed and issued by it.

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