PENGASSAN calls for legal framework to tackle oil theft

Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has asked the Federal Government to liaise with the National Assembly and come up with an effective legal framework to tackle and discourage oil theft in Nigeria.

Francis Johnson, president, PENGASSAN, who stated this, decried that there was nothing presently done in the area of legislation to tackle the problem, and that the eighth National Assembly needed to look in this direction.

According to Johnson, while the eighth Senate was yet to turn its attention to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), having been passed by the House of Representatives in June 2015, the bill needed to be reassessed, in view of President Muhammadu Buhari’s desire to block leakages in the oil and gas sector.

Johnson, speaking at a training programme with the theme, “managing new skills in labour relations,” organised for PENGASSAN staff in Benin City, Edo State, also said that in addition to the effort being made by the government to make the refineries work, the government should also consider granting licences to indigenous investors.

“Let the government come out with a strong legal framework that can stabilise the industry. So, you can look at giving Nigerians more licenses; let Nigerians build refineries because they can also create jobs.‎ When you have a legal framework for oil and gas, the issue of pipeline vandalism, state of our refineries will be taken care of,” Johnson said.

He, however, lamented that the association was worried by what it described as the attitude of major oil firms that take advantage of falling crude oil price‎ and leave its members out of jobs.

He urged President Buhari to consider the calls for the diversification in order to ensure a stable and sustainable economy.

“International Oil Companies (IOCs) should not take advantage of the fallen crude oil prices to sack workers. You cannot say that because there is a fall in crude oil price, which is something that is temporary and fluctuating, you want to make workers redundant and re-engage new people as contract or casual workers.

“It is not acceptable to us. We want to appeal to the government that, in view of the fluctuating crude oil prices, it must also be looking at diversifying,” he said.