The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has urged the Federal government to protect jobs in the sector and ensure the prosecution of criminal acts involved in oil theft and vandalism to curb the dangers.
The President, PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, spoke during a rally by the association in Ikeja, Lagos.
The Chairman, Producers Forum, PENGASSAN, Ete Oyegbanren, said, “The problems are in different levels, and it is important that we address it as such, first and foremost, the impact is all on Nigerians because if we cannot produce enough crude to meet our quota, we will not get enough foreign exchange and there will not be enough income for the country especially at the federal, state and local government levels. It therefore means everyone in respective of all of us standing here will be affected.”
He added that, “Now let’s go into the companies, you go into business to make profit, as long as the crude that you bring from the ground, you cannot put it in tanks and sell to make money, the highest impact to us is that you are more likely to go out of business if that theft is not stopped.
“Not only will you go out of business, Nigerians that are employed across the value chain from the oil and gas, from all the various sectors, manufacturing, everybody will go out of jobs. We need gas to power the industries, we need gas to generate electricity, we need crude oil and fuel to drive our vehicles and we also need gas to also cook.
So, if these companies cannot make profit, then they will go out of business. Nigeria will be in a state of disorganisation.”
The Zonal Chairman, PENGASSAN, Lagos Zone, Mr Eyam Abeng, said Lagos State is one of the oil producing states.
According to him, it was relevant to address the challenges in the oil regions of Niger Delta and Niger before it migrates to Lagos zone.
