Day: September 22, 2020

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, has said there is a need for Nigeria to act fast and address the loss of foreign investors’ confidence in the country’s oil and gas industry.

Kyari said the absence of a stable fiscal environment was inhibiting the growth of the industry, especially the upstream sector.

He spoke while playing host to members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), who were on an oversight visit to the corporation recently, according to a statement on Tuesday.

He said “international investors were losing confidence in the nation’s oil and gas industry” and urged the lawmakers to act fast and arrest the situation.

“We need to act quickly to move from this unstable situation to a very stable one and the only way is for us to get the Petroleum Industry Bill to work so that countries and investors can work with us,” the NNPC boss said.

According to him, foreign capital is needed in the upstream sector and the only way to attract it is to have stable laws and a friendly business environment that can guarantee cost recovery and a decent return on investment for investors.

Kyari noted that the uncertainty in the sector created by the long delay in the passage of the PIB had led to a number of divestments from the country in the recent past.

He said the drive by the management of the NNPC to entrench the culture of transparency in the corporation had improved its business fortunes and creditworthiness “as lenders are now willing to grant credit to it.”

source: Punch

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said the problems associated with Nigeria’s refineries will persist if the Federal Government continues to own and run them.

Osinbajo said this at a virtual meeting organised for the All Progressives Congress social media bloggers and influencers at the APC National Secretariat, in Abuja, Monday.

He said “If the refinery is left in the hands of the government, it will continue to experience the same problem it is experiencing now. I do not think that it is the business of the government to run the refinery. It should be the business of the private sector, which is why we are trying to focus on assisting the private sector to develop modular refineries.

 “There is a 100,000-barrel capacity refinery about to come on stream and we hope it will by the next year. It is completely private and closely located near the Port Harcourt refinery so that it can share the facilities of the Port Harcourt refinery. We are hopeful it will come on stream in the first quarter of next year.

“There are also six modular refineries that are almost ready. There is Niger Delta Petroleum refinery in Delta state, there is another one in Imo, there is also another modular refinery in Edo State.

 “The whole idea is to support as many private refineries as possible. We are also waiting for the Dangote Refinery with 250,000 barrels capacity which is bigger than all of the government refineries put together.”

Copyright PUNCH.

The Nigeria Labour Congress has vowed to proceed with its planned strike and protest with effect from September 28 following the failure of the Federal Government to reverse the hike in electricity tariff and fuel price.

Rising from its National Executive Council meeting in Abuja a few minutes ago, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said the proposed action by the organised labour would proceed from next week.

He stated that the decision was unanimously taken by the chairmen of the 36 states and FCT chapters of the NLC.

source: Punch ng

Petrol scarcity may surface across the country as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners on Monday ordered tanker drivers nationwide to halt operations beginning from Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

NARTO gave the directive in Abuja in protest against the Federal Government’s ban on petroleum trucks above 45,000 litres from plying Nigerian roads.

NARTO is the umbrella organisation of all commercial vehicles owners in Nigeria engaged in the haulage of petroleum products, general cargoes, and movement of goods and passengers within the country and the West-African sub-region.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, NARTO’s National President, Yusuf Othman, said members of the association would have to park their trucks on Tuesday and Wednesday as a warning to government against the abrupt ban.

He said, “NARTO received with grave shock the recent government decision to place immediate ban on all petroleum trucks above 45,000 litres capacity from plying Nigeria roads.”

Othman said the sudden ban was highly insensitive and unappreciative of the efforts NARTO members in the sensitive distribution and supply chains of petroleum products across the country.

He said none of the major transport companies across the country could continue any form of operations with this policy within this short time frame, adding that if the ban was not lifted, the association would begin a full-blown industrial action.

The NARTO president said, “In view of the above, we are therefore constrained to allow the decision of all our members to park their trucks as from tomorrow, 22nd to 23rd September 2020, to prevail as a warning.

“And furthermore, issue 10 days ultimatum with effect from 24th September 2020, for a full-blown withdrawal of service.”

He added, “If such scenarios occur, we earnestly plead with those who will lose employment, income, and the general public that will be negatively affected by this avoidable situation.”

The association argued that it was distressing and discouraging for the government to impose the new policy abruptly without giving the operators time to gradually phase out the affected trucks.

Othman said, “The leadership of NARTO is not in any way against the decision of the Federal Government to ban the use of trucks with more than 45,000 litres capacity in the conveyance of petroleum products considering the dilapidated state of Nigerian roads.

“But NARTO is particularly concerned about the sudden and prompt nature of the ban. We consider the approach to be highly insensitive to the huge investments the owners of these trucks have made and debts they incurred in executing the mandate given by previous administration.”

They argued that the ban would be counterproductive as the sudden withdrawal of these trucks would impact heavily and negatively on the operations of members, lead to job losses of about 40,000 people, and cause petrol scarcity.