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Tag: NUPENG

  • NUPENG threatens strike over refineries

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has said it will embark on a nationwide strike if the Federal Government goes ahead with its plan to sell the four refineries next year.

    This decision was taken at the weekend during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of NUPENG in Okrika, Rivers State.

    The union decried a statement credited to the Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison–Madueke, about the proposed sale of the refineries.

    The National President of NUPENG, Comrade Igwe Achese, who disclosed this to reporters, described the decision to sell the refineries as unfortunate, wondering why Nigeria, the sixth largest oil producing country in the world, is in a hurry to sell its refineries, thereby mortgaging the future of its citizens.

    He said what the Federal Government should do is to repair the refineries and stop the high cost of petroleum products.

    Achese queried the condition of the refineries, which he said had obsolete equipment because “in the past 15 years they have not undergone Turn Around Maintenance (TAM). Therefore, the equipment have not been replaced.”

    He said NUPENG has talked about TAM for the refineries for several years, yet nothing has been done.

    “We keep talking about TAM for the refineries and bringing them up to work optimally. Year in year out we keep talking about TAM.

    Up till now, workers are being trained to prepare themselves for TAM for the refineries.”

    The NUPENG president urged “the Federal Government to reconsider the sale of the refineries because as a union, we will resist it.” He added: “Privatisation is not the solution to the high cost of petroleum products in the country as other Sub-Saharan African countries have discovered oil and this will affect the price of petroleum products in Nigeria.”

    Achese said: “If we must sell the refineries, we must sit down at a table to cross the Ts and dot the Is, otherwise we will resist it as a union.”

    Lamenting the poor state of the refineries, he said while it might be safe to say that the refineries were not working, which was why they were being sustained through the importation of petroleum products, “but you begin to ask, what of the crude oil allocated to the refineries that are no more coming to the refineries for refining due to a breakdown of equipment at the refineries?”

  • Yoked to the past

    Yoked to the past

    Two weeks after the announcement by Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke of the plan by government to sell the nation’s four refineries by the first quarter of 2014, there are enough signs already to suggest that the process is not guaranteed a smooth sail. As it appears, not even the horror of the reversal of an earlier sale of two refineries to Bluestar Consortium by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, or the self-evident folly that flowed from that botched exercise would suffice to persuade those whose understanding of the times seems at best antediluvian to have a change of heart.

    I refer of course to the latest round of opposition mounted to the planned privatisation of the refineries by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the newly created multi-purpose vehicle– NUPENGASSAN – an amalgam of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria PENGASSAN.

    The indications are that a titanic battle lies ahead.

    Not surprisingly, it would be another instance in which emotions rather than reasons would rule the roost; the same old stuff about a patrimony that needs to be preserved for some future generation. And so the argument goes that simply because those refineries were built with millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, everything must be done to preserve them as public entities even when it amounts to pouring scarce funds into bottomless hole.

    Here is how the TUC chieftain put it: “Other countries are building and maintaining refineries, what are you selling them to achieve? Is it to privatise them? What becomes of the workers and the assets? What becomes of the people whose land produces the oil? Are you going to sell to them as if Nigeria is not producing oil? Which of the OPEC countries will sell their refineries now? It is a development that workers will not accept just like that”.

    NUPENGASSAN on its part could not make its point without the usual threat to shut down the economy: “This planned outright sale is uncalled for; inimical to the economy and Nigeria as a nation…If government refuses to listen to the voice of reason, we will have no option than to do the needful – shut down the sector to protect these asets for generations unborn”.

    The problem with NUPENGASSAN and their likes is that they have simply refused to change. If their penchant to revert to their traditional default setting of antagonism is partly understandable given the history of their tortuous relationship with the government, their insistence on yoking the nation to the past, far from accceptable, is certainly not tenable in 2013. The point is, if only they would just take a step out of their comfort zones, they would find that the idea of elevating proprietorial issues over and above service delivery is long dated. Imagine defending such patently obsolete paradigm which puts everything other thing over above service?

    So, what’s their understanding of privatisation– stripping those aged complexes – bolts and nuts – and transferring them from their present locations to some fantasyland? Isn’t it about transferring them to better, more capable hands to enable their deliver on their rationale? What could be wrong with that? Isn’t somebody getting things muddled up here? Again, so much for the paranoia, what makes privatisation of the power sector desirable and the refinery not? And where is the evidence that some future administration would do better with the management of the refineries even when the facts of government’s legendary incompetence sticks out? And why should the interest of the unions override the collective interest of Nigerians?

    Imagine the costs being borne by the nation since TUC and their NUPENGASSAN fellow-travellers in the oppose-the-sale-train forced the hand of the federal government to abort what was possibly the best deal in the circumstance. It started with the $700 cheque returned to the Bluestar Consortium – a decision which although was quite popular then, was probably the dumbest, stupidest thing to do by a supposedly rational administration. Since then, the opportunity costs have grown to humonguos proportions. How many millions of dollars have been poured into the endless Turn Around Maintenance ever since? I wager that it would have exceeded that $700 million paid for the two refineries.

    Six years on, can anyone guarantee that the so-called prized assets would be worth anything near that $700 million?

    And now, courtesy of the presidential audit team on the refineries, we are even now learning that their performances are “sub optimal”, fit for the auction market! Yes, we have managed to poured billions of naira into the refineries for far less value all for the love of Grandpa’s piece of Oldsmobile! How about that as a fitting wage for prodigality?

    Now, if you ask me, it would hardly matter if the refineries are off-loaded into the market today. And I wouldn’t even bat an eyelid if the refineries are sold for a nominal price of one naira! Why should it matter that one money-bag with more cash than business buys up the carcass so long as he/she able to put it work? Who cares whether the fuel dispensed at the pump comes from Wazobia refinery so long as quality is guaranteed? Or would rather TUC and company prefer that the country continue to throw money into the hopeless entities? Is that what they want?

    Don’t ask me whether anything could be wrong with government establishing new refineries. First, it is late in the day. Secondly, its no use attempting to force an unwilling horse to drink. Moreover, the prospects of another refinery owned by the government must be seen as frightening indeed at this time. Apart from the fact that value for money at any point along the procurement chain would be a distant dream, it would most certainly end up as a museum piece – like the infamous four now locked in the battle to find willing suitors.

    We can only plead that TUC and NUPENGASAN take heart. One of the great lessons of the wave of globalisation is the futility of fighting it. As the far as the issue of the refineries’ privatisation goes, it’s as good as saying that the battle is lost; time to concentrate on the minor battle of process.

  • Oil workers vow to resist sale of refineries

    Oil workers vow to resist sale of refineries


    * Demand adoption of NLNG model

    Oil Workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has vowed to resist plans by the Government to sell the nations refineries without considering available options and rational rule for such lucrative business deal.

    The oil workers alleged that the government advertently underfunded the refineries and deliberately refused to carry out Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) and supply crude to the refineries so as to have reasons for selling it to their cronies.

    In a statement made available to the Nation, the union said instead of opting for the outright sale of the refineries, the government should adopt a modified model tailored towards the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Model with the National Oil Company (NOC) as owners of the four refineries holding a substantial minority share, while core investors/local participation hold the working majority with the staff, trade unions, and the host communities hold minority shares.

    Speaking against the backdrop of the plan by the Federal Government to privatise the four refineries by 2014, the PENGASSAN President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said that the workers will resist the privatisation of the four state-owned refineries because it is against the national interest.

    He alleged that government should deal with the problem of vandalisation of pipelines that hamper supply crude oil to the refineries as well as carry out TAM and see whether the refineries will work or not.”

    He noted that the issue of the privatisation of the refineries has been on the front burner since President Olusegun Obasanjo regime, when the government through the Bureau for Public Enterprises hastily sold the refineries, adding that this step was reversed by the late President Umar Yar’Adua.

    Comrade Ogun said, “The proposed sale of the refineries is against the overall national interest and in the interest of the few, who are lurking around the corridor of power to milk the country dry. How can a country be selling all its national assets all in the name of privatisation? For whose benefit are such sales?

    “If you recall, Late President Yar’Adua reversed the privatisation of the refineries done by former President Obasanjo, with a promised to carry out Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) on them to ensure that they are sold not as scrap. On assumption to office, President Goodluck Jonathan also promised to carry out TAM on the refineries.

    “Even the controversial Kalu Idika Kalu led National Refineries Special Task Force also has TAM or rehabilitation of the refineries to make the refineries work in a safe and reliable manner as part of its recommendations.  As we are talking now, nothing has been significantly done.

    “Why is the government proposing sales of these national edifices without doing the needful to ensure that the refineries work at their optimal capacity? Nigerians and the general public deserve to know more on the desperate reasons for the spate and row of proposed privatisation, even when the selfish motives of these proposed national assets sales can spell doom for the country.”

    He said that the government can also consider Part 1 Section 3 of a Senate Bill 176, which try to ensure 50 per cent refining capacity in the country, and states that, “Nigerian personnel shall constitute a minimum of (75 percent) seventy five percent of the investing company in accordance with this law.”

    He also said the refineries should be stand-alone entities independent of either the current Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or the proposed NOC as in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), while the board of management of each refining company should be fully responsible for its success and failure.

    Comrade Ogun said that planning to sell the refineries and their cronies planning to buy them should emulate Alhaji Aliko Dangote and establish their own refineries instead of waiting to corner the nation’s common investment interest for their own selfish interest.

    He also stated that instead of privatising the refineries, government should grant effective incentives to allow for the development of private refineries alongside the existing ones, adding that a framework should be articulated that will make available required crude for effective functioning of local refineries.

    “There is need to incentivise and/or compel IOCs to refine an agreed percentage of crude oil in the country. A suggestion is to tie upstream licensing to downstream investment and private ownerships of jetties should be encouraged,” he said.

    He stated that “As the privatisation trend continues, the Nigeria public will need to know from the process drivers the number of jobs and investment that have been created as against the reality that some cronies are now being recruited as technical partners to front for the high and mighty as was the case with Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited which the Government sold to Indorama for $225million for an mega plant that is the second largest in Africa which at the time of its sale worth about $2.5 billion as fair market value. Also at the time of the sale, the company was fully stocked feeds, and the materials needed for its TAM were being bought by the government. It only required working capital that was persistently caused by bureaucratic bottleneck and undue government interference that delayed its efficiency.

    “Also, the downstream oil and gas sector companies where Government has substantial ownership equity like Unipetrol, Africa Petroleum and National Oil were doing well with over 6000 Nigerian employees before their privatisation.

    These companies are now going into oblivion with less than 1200 workers made up over 85 per cent casual employees and 15 per cent regular staff despite guarantees of better management by the core investors. The sad story with the privatisation of Air Nigeria and NICON is well known to the Nigerian public.”

  • PEDAN accuses marketers of victimising members

    Petroleum Dealers’ Association of Nigeria (PEDAN) has accused oil marketers of victimising and coercing its members to make outrageous deposit for products, saying the act has led to the closure of many filling stations.

    The Secretary-General, Comrade Innocent Eze, in a letter to the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), a copy of which was sent to the Minister of Labour, said it has signed the implementation of the agreement but complain about the non copliance withbpayment of allotted rebate by the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to the dealers.

    He lamented that members have always been at the receiving end of the oil marketers who often undermine the interest of the dealers.

    He complained that the oil marketing companies have terminated the contracts of many of PEDAN members because of their inability to deposit amount of money demanded by the marketing companies.

    PEDAN also said they were being intimidated by demand for deposits which range from N10million to N30 million, depending on the capacity of the station, adding that the marketers equally  deny the members of the association the full payment of their approved rebate, and often retire prematurely any one that dares to challenge them.

    PEDAN charged that the allotment of adequate rebates to its members by  PPPRA would go a long way towards enabling its members to meet with the requirements of the collective bargaining to which both parties have reached agreement.

    Eze said PEDAN members are at a disadvantage meeting the responsibility of paying their staff, noting that even without the agreement, some of its members are paying above the stated figures.

    The association said the act has been detrimental to the operations of its members, and has forced PEDAN to soft pedal on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) it earlier agreed with Petrol Station Workers (PSW), who are their employees and a branch of NUPENG.

    The association, however, promised to comply with the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the PSW branch of NUPENG, if its constraint are holistically addressed by the concerned parties.

    PEDAN, therefore, appealed to NUPENG to convene  a meeting of stakeholders to dialogue on the way forward to avert crisis in the sector, noting that most often, it is the dealers that suffer when there is industrial dispute.

  • NUPENG boss congratulates Eaglets

    NUPENG boss congratulates Eaglets

    The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers, (NUPENG) Lagos State zone, Comrade Tokunbo Najeemdeen Adebola has joined other Nigerians in congratulating the victorious Golden Eaglets that made the country proud by winning the FIFA Under-17 World Cup hosted by United Arab Emirates. He also resolved to bankroll a national soccer tourney.

    He said the bid is to complement the efforts of government in the area of youth empowerment and addressing youth restiveness by actively engaging them with meaningful activity.

    The competition tagged ‘Korodo National Under-18 Unity Soccer Tourney’ would commence on November 24th and end on December 1st at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, Ogun State, according to the professional Sports International that would be organising tourney.

    The NUPENG boss, who wished to host some members of the Eaglets during the tourney, has however pledged mouthwatering incentives for winners and all participating teams that are expected to come from all states of the federation for the maiden tourney.

    While Adebola has also vowed to make the tourney an annual event as his own way of contributing to the development of the game of football at the grassroots and also giving back to the society that made him.

  • Fuel scarcity hits Calabar as NUPENG strikes over bad road

    FILLING stations in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, were closed yesterday.

    This was sequel to the strike aby the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in the state.

    An official of the union, who did not want his name in print, said the strike was in protest of the terrible state of the Odukpani axis of the Calabar-Itu Highway, which is the main road tankers’ driver ply in and out of the city.

    “We are going on strike to call attention of the government to fix that road. And we will continue until something is done about that road.

    “Just yesterday, a truck fell down along that road causing serious traffic jam. And that is what happens to tankers on that road on a daily basis. I’m not even talking about accidents that claim lives and spoil people’s vehicles all the time,” the unionist said.

    It was observed that only major marketers were selling petrol in the city yesterday.

    However, some stations that opened yesterday night were selling petrol for N130 to N150 per litre.

    Black market operators were also selling within the same price range.

  • Dip in oil production worries NUPENG

    Dip in oil production worries NUPENG

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has warned that the sudden drop by 42 per cent of the nation’s oil revenue portends dangers, lamenting that it will affect resources meant for development and upgrade of infrastructure

    In a statement by its National President, Comrade Igwe Achese, it said the drop was astronomical.

    He said: “NUPENG is worried about the sudden drop by 42 per cent of the nation’s oil revenue as it portends dangers as well as will further plummet and affect resources meant for development and upgrading of infrastructure”

    “We are more worried at sad commentary that the Federal Government gross revenue dropped by 42 per cent month-on-month to N497billion is as a result of disruption to oil production caused by thieves bursting pipelines.

    “The union stresses that its membership is dwindling daily as a result of downsizing by oil companies who are saddled with overhead arising from low oil production occasioned by oil thieves.”

    The labour leader who called on the government to muster the political will to address the incessant vandalism of pipelines traversing the nation, insisted that illegal bunkering has defied all solutions, even with the massive deployment of troops to the Niger-Delta.

    “NUPENG calls for a change of tactics in order to address these challenges or else these vandals will collapse the nation’s economy, as oil accounts for more than 90 per cent of our earnings.

    “ It is a high time government installed modern day sophisticated equipment installed with alarm that can trigger off during any vandalism,” he said.

    NUPENG wants a thorough surveillance of the nation’s pipelines through the deployment of helicopter gun-ships to monitor the pipelines, especially in the coastlines.

    “The Federal Government should collaborate with the advanced countries on the deployment of the best technology to stem the tide so that the economy does not go comatose,” he said.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described massive stealing of crude oil as a national embarrassment aided by people in authority and their cohorts.

    The NLC after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Kaduna State, where it warned that the act if not immediately checked, holds dire consequences for the country.

    “It is a national embarrassment that in spite of the assurances given by the government and the deployment of security armada in the Niger Delta region, crude oil theft is on the rise. The immediate effects are drastic reductions in oil production and receipts making it difficult for government to discharge its duties to the citizenry,” the NLC said.

    It maintained that top government officials, military officers, businessmen, politicians with their local and foreign collaborators were responsible for crude oil theft.

    The NLC also kicked against what it termed a resurgence of casualisation of workers in the public and private sectors across the country. It said the practice induces slave labour, prostitution, psychological trauma and the violation of the rights of the workers, adding that the practice does not in any way stimulate productivity.

    The communiqué jointly endorsed by NLC President Comrade Abdulwahed Omar and Acting General Secretary Comrade Chris Uyot condemned the government’s inability to tackle corruption, reduce cost of governance and stem insecurity in the country.

  • NUPENG threatens strike over fuel stations’ attendants’pay

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers(NUPENG) has threatened to go on strike over what it calls the poor remuneration of Petrol Station Workers.

    Petrol station operators, they claim, pay their staff less than the N18,000 approved minimum wage.

    The General Secretary, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Mr Isaac Aberare, said the attitude of indigenous oil marketers toward petrol attendants was bad.

    The marketers, he said, were exploiting petrol attendants by paying them below the minimum wage okayed by the government.

    He named some of the companies involved as Conoil, Mobil, Forte Oil, and Rainoil.

    He threatened a nationwide strike by the union if urgent steps were not taken to address the problem.

    But the downstream operators, including the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) have exonerated themselves from blame.

    IPMAN President, Western Zone, Olumide Ogunmade said managers of petrol stations were expected to handle the welfare of their workers and not the body.

    He said it was a non-union issue, which the association cannot act on.

    Ogunmade said: “Low remuneration of petrol station workers is not a union issue. Though IPMAN is the umbrella body of autonomous marketers of petrol and allied products, fighting for petrol station workers is outside its purview. The issue has nothing with our union. If a station manager employs 10 people for instance, he or she decides what to pay the attendants. We have nothing to do with that issue.”

    A Senior official of Conoil Plc, Mr Azeez Abiodun also exonerated his company, saying the firm places priority on the welfare of its staff irrespective of their jobs. He said though it does not employ people that work at its stations, it advises that such staff be well-catered for.

    “For instance, if a company has given out its operations to firms to manage, it has no right to interfere in the ways the firms are paying their workers. The fact that you are working in a Conoil petrol station does not mean you are an employee of Conoil,” he added.

    The Nation learnt that some petrol stations pay their workers between N10, 000 and N12,000 monthly.

     

  • IGU, NUPENG laud Dangote’s $9b investment in refinery

    • Refinery to employ 85,000 workers

    The Dangote Group’s $9 billion investment in oil refinery and petro-chemicals, has received commendation of the African Region of the Industrial Global Union (IGU).

    The African Region Chairman, Issa Aremu said millions of private sector workers organised in national and global unions in Africa identify with the investment, particularly the patriotism of the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group of industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

    Aremu said the signing of deal was made possible because of the Federal Government’s efforts at promoting backward integration policy and buoyed by its job creation potential.

    He said: “It is significant that the refinery will be Nigeria’s first private and Africa’s largest petroleum refinery with a projected daily production output of 400,000 barrels a day, the same capacity of the combined four Nigerian government-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, which we all know, operate at less than 30 per cent of their capacity. Millions of private sector workers, organised in national and global unions in Africa, identify with the investment.”

    He lamented that though Africa is a resource rich continent, it has low levels of industrialisation, with materials being exported in their raw form, adding that labour is excited that the Dangote Group of industries is changing the narrative of the continent from that of ‘resource curse’ to resource beneficiation, value addition and mass employment through industrialisation and internal articulation of the African economy. Industrialisation is it for Nigeria if it must be part of the leading economies of the world, to get millions of youth to work, keep them out of violence and crime and above all, out of poverty.”

    Aremu said the natural resources of Africa should be for the welfare of all Africans, not for the profiting of a few, especially foreign capitalists, adding that this refinery will definitely decrease Nigeria’s scandalous unacceptable dependence on oil imports.

    In a related development, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said it is delighted over the proposed refinery/petro-chemical and fertiliser complex expected to start production in 2016.

    In a statement its Secretary, Isaac Aberare, said the investment would go a long way in ending the perennial scarcity of petroleum products and put an end to the current massive importation of products.

    While commending Dangote for the project, Aberare called on other private investors and the multinational oil companies, to take a cue from the renowned industrialist, against the drop of the fact that 18 firms were granted licences to establish refineries under the Obasanjo regime and they did not do anything.

    The statement reads: “The refinery and petrochemical plant will add value to the oil and gas industry, which is at present experiencing a downturn and save the use of scarce foreign exchange to procure imported fuel and materials. The Dangote Refinery will turn the tide, as it will also become a major foreign exchange earner in the export of refined petroleum products.

    “The Union believes that the refinery, when it finally makes a debut in 2016, will reduce or eliminate products scarcity in the country. We, therefore, call on the other investors and the multinational oil companies to take a cue from Dangote, especially 18 firms that were granted licences to establish refineries about three years ago and have not made any move to even clear the sites.”

    Dangote said about 8,000 engineers would be needed for the take-off of the $9billion Dangote Refinery/Fertiliser plant in Ondo State.

    Speaking in Abuja, Dangote said the project, when completed, would provide jobs for 85,000 Nigerians.

    He said the group had secured a $3.3 billion loan from a consortium of banks for the project.

    According to him, importation of petroleum products will end by 2016 as the plant will start production in the next three years.

     

     

     

     

  • Oil workers protest exclusion from PIB public hearing

    Members of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have protested their exclusion from the National Assembly’s public hearing on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    They alleged that critical stakeholders in the oil and gas industry were denied the opportunity of making their presentations at the hearing.

    The action of the National Assembly Joint Committee was deliberate and not in the interest of the nation. They said the committee ended the hearing, without allowing the invited stakeholders to make their presentations.

    In a position paper sent to The Nation, the PENGASSAN’s President, Mr Babatunde Ogun, said 14 out of the 54 memoranda given to the National Assembly was presented during the hearing.

    Ogun listed the memoranda to include expunging the provision granting the President powers to use his discretion to award petroleum licences and leases from PIB; ensuring that the bill provides transparency on the award of contracts and licensces, and other accompanying processes.

    Others are ensuring that the bill builds on the efforts of National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) by erasing the ’black hole’ perception of the oil and gas industry; mandatory publication of all licences, tenders, and contracts; voiding confidentiality clauses for oil revenue and payment information; publication of statistical figures of oil operations that include but not limited to production export and import on quarterly basis; annual reports and audits of operations and commercial and associated institutions created by the PIB, National Petroleum Assets Management Corporation/ Company.

    Ogun stressed the need for critical examination of proposed changes in the fiscal regime to ensure that Nigeria does not discourage investments in oil and gas.

    He said: “It is our considered view that the PIB should allow for the optimisation of returns to Nigeria from its oil and gas resources without stifling investments and growth of the industry. The government will, therefore, have to strike a balance between taking a significantly higher stake from industry operations and ensuring the sustainable growth of the industry. To this end, we suggest that the National Assembly should arrange a meeting between the government represented by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) to reconcile the disagreements on the fiscal regimes.”

    The unions called for the curtailing of the power of the Minister under the PIB to avoid the bureaucracy that characterises the management of the sector; fixing the tenure of the board, chief executive officer and other management staff of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and National Oil Company (NOC) to prevent undue interference of the board and ensuring that workers meet the targets set for them.

    Ogun said the Petroleum Host CommunityFund(PHCF) should cover communities hosting oil and gas resources and assets, including downstream infrastructure, adding that independent and effective regulators should be provided to ensure the bill’s success.

    “The Joint Venture(JV) has, however, been bedevilled by inadequate funding, as the government has not being able to meet its cash call obligations. The Petroleum Minister only recently pointed out that inadequate JV funding was negatively impacting on exploration and with it, reserves addition. The proposal under the PIB for the JV assets to be under a government-owned corporation does not seem to solve this cash call problem even with the proposed seed capital. There is no doubt that government’s finances are constrained, what will therefore, be more practical is for government to divest some of its holdings in the NPAMC while members of the public hold the rest. This way, the JV will be better funded,” he added.

    He said the oil firms are putting 10 per cent of their profits into the fund, adding that they cannot draw from it when their facilities are vandalised.

    According to him, regulatory functions are placed under the Ministry of Petroleum in line with the provisions of the PIB. He said the call for the establishment of the Upstream Petroleum Inspectorate (UPI) and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (DPRA) to regulate the sector is in order, adding that this is the only way to prevent abuse of power.