PENGASSAN to FG: Increase your shareholding in Dangote Refinery to 45%

LABOUR union under the auspices of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has advised the Federal Government to increase its shareholding stake in Dangote’s. Refinery from the current seven to at least 45 percent.

President of the union, Comrade Festus Osifo, said this will ensure further energy assurance and security for the citizens.

This and other recommendations were contained in a communique signed by the President of the union, Comrade Festus Osifo and the General Secretary Comrade Lumumba  Okugbawa, at a press briefing on the third edition of the PENGASSAN energy and Labour Summit.

Acquiring 45 percent shareholding stake in Dangote Refinery, Osifo explained, will  not allow Dangote to take unilateral decision not to sell the product for Nigerians

While recognising the ramping up efforts to make the nation’s four refineries work,  PENGASSAN  wanted the federal government to divest its majority shareholdings and own at most 49 percent of the shareholding in the four local refineries.

Stakeholders at the summit urged that core investors should be brought in to take the 51 percent shareholding stake in the four local refineries as applicable in Nigeria NLNG.

The communique read: “Energy security is cardinal for the survival of any nation and Nigeria is not an exception; hence the citizens of Nigeria constantly demand energy affordability, accessibility and availability.”

On a way to create petroleum product reserves, the summit wants government to partner with players in the private sector to maintain the already available petroleum product storages in the six geopolitical zones in the country, saying when these are operational, petroleum products will be stored there.

On recent trend of divestment by the International Oil Companies (IOCs), stakeholders at the the summit cautioned that divestments presented both risks and opportunities for Nigeria, including a reduction in foreign direct investment, technical expertise and a potential dip in production levels.

Despite the benefits of divestment, the summit identified its economic, environmental and climate change consequences; plus attendant job losses and urged trade unions to negotiate protective measures during divestment.

Stakeholders at the summit urged a comprehensive divestment framework under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to guide asset divestment by licensees and lessees in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Sector should be strictly adhered to and implemented.

“Pending when the Petroleum Industry Act is amended to include the divestment framework, the current framework promulgated by NUPRC must be gazetted for full implementation.

“A job protection system should be developed by the government in other to ensure that Nigerians do not lose their jobs post divestment.

“An MOU must be signed between the divesting companies and the trade unions to protect members jobs and enhance its welfare,” stakeholders at the summit recommended.

On transition to greener energy, the summit concluded that nothing much has been done to enhance Nigeria’s energy mix.

“This becomes imperative as global financing of fossil fuel-related energy becomes challenging./,” the communique read.

As a result of this, the summit urged the government to give more incentives to attract the International Oil and Gas Companies and the Indigenous Oil and Gas Producers to invest in more crude oil production in the next five years.

The summit suggested that 50 percent of the accruable revenue should be dedicated to investing in renewable energy like solar, batteries, wind, hydrogen, hydro, among others

The summit pointed out that most IOCs are currently involved in developing greener energy strategies and businesses across the globe,l, urging Nigeria’s government to partner with them on how they could accelerate and deepen this in the Nigerian market.

“Nigeria Government must urgently develop a practical and implementable Energy mix policy. This will set the policy direction and become the basis for negotiation with institutions and stakeholders who intend to invest in different energy sources,” the communique read.

On crude oil theft, stakeholders at the summit urged the Federal government, oil and gas-producing companies, security agencies and other stakeholders in the industry to embrace application of technology in curbing crude theft by deploying Al-powered surveillance systems like drones and satellite image; predictive analytics instruments; automated threat detection equipment; smart sensors, facial and object recognition; machine learning for vessel identification, block-chain integration technology, and supply chain optimization.

The application of a combination of these, Osifo said would help in reporting crude oil theft in real time for quick intervention.

“A multifaceted world standard control and situation room should be developed for urgent intervention.

“A more detailed scope of this will be made available for interested stakeholders,” he said.

“The summit also called on the Federal Government to re-engineer its security architecture, beef up security and take over the responsibility of securing oil and gas installations from investors by providing naval security vessels to man oil and gas infrastructures. This will greatly reduce the high cost of production.

“The summit further posited that those caught for crude oil theft should be prosecuted by a court of competent jurisdiction and punished severely to serve as a deterrent(s) to others.

“The government must quickly see to the implementation of the provision for the host community in the Petroleum Industry Act. This will create a sense of ownership for the host communities thereby triggering the need to protect the pipelines or at worst, act as whistleblowers,” the communique read

The summit observed that there has been crude oil theft in the Nigeria Oil and Gas industry over the years, but  that this has been heightened since 2020/2021 till date

The summit pointed out that this menace had eaten deep into the national crude oil production that saw its abysmal all-time low-level production from 2.2 million barrels per day before COVID-19 to sub 700,000 barrels per day in 2022.

The summit identified the menace of crude oil theft as a major threat to energy security and the nation’s economy.

On Nigeria Gas Master Plan (NGMP), the summit wants government through the industry regulators to ensure full implementation of the gas transportation network code and ensure reliable operations and maintenance of existing infrastructure

Besides, the summit urged the government to ensure ease of doing business, by reducing bureaucracies or complex regulations that make the gas investment unattractive to investors.

“Federal Government should incentivize investment in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) production, processing, and distribution.

“ This will go a long way in reassuring the citizens that the decade of Gas and the Nigeria Gas Master Plan often mouthed are not “mere talks” but a transformative energy source that will greatly benefit the citizens by offering energy alternatives at a reduced cost,” the communique read.

READ ALSO: Maiduguri: BUA Group donates N2bn to support flood victims