From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva has urged Nigerians to sweep the protracted petrol scarcity nightmare into the dumpster of history, as such an ugly crisis will never repeat itself.
Sylva, who gave the assurance on Friday in Abuja, at the official presentation of ISO 22301 certification and launch of the Electronic Materials Management Solutions (EMMS) to the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), said the recent scarcity imbroglio was a reaction to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), adding that it indicated that the Act was indeed a good development.
Sylva, who was represented by Director Human Resources, Dr. Famous Eseduwo, assured that “Nigeria will never experience such kind of petroleum crisis again.
He further commended NAPIMs for its feat in acquiring the various certifications in the oil and gas solutions.
He said: “I want to assure you that the queues you saw last time will be the last time you will see queues in Nigeria. When you are diagnosed with a problem, and if the right drug is administered, definitely there are going to be reactions. The petroleum queues you saw recently are the reactions of the PIA. And that is to tell you that the PIA is the right Bill for the Nigerian oil and gas industry; and with the capable hands of the GMD and all other supporters, we want to assure Nigerians that things like the petroleum crisis will be a thing of the past as soon as possible.”
Also speaking, the Group General Manager NAPIMS, Mr Bala Wunti, the Business Continuity Management Certification will help in ensuring an efficient and effective tracking of inventory in the oil and gas sector, fortify transparent online bidding for clients as well as adequately manage threats and disruptive incidents.
Earlier in his remarks, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, reiterated that the national oil company will become a fully Limited Liability firm from July 1, 2022.
He added that from that date, the company will operate in full compliance with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2020.
According to Kyari, implementing the PIA means that the operations of the NNPC will be run like a private sector enterprise in order to maximise productivity and profitability.
The NNPC boss further decried the activities of bandits in the Niger Delta which he claimed were vandalising pipelines and stealing crude oil, leading to what he described as the lowest level of production in the history of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He however, assured that combined efforts were ongoing, especially with the Nigerian Navy, to address the problem.
He said: “Business Continuity is everything in today’s context. As we speak now, there is massive disruption to our operations as a result of activities of vandals and criminals around our pipelines in the Niger Delta area. This has brought down our production to as low as we have never seen before. Today we are doing less than 1.5 million barrels per day. Simply because some criminals have decided to have some infractions on our pipelines. That clearly is the biggest infraction that we are facing today and this kind of engagement and the certification we have around our systems and processes should be able to respond to this and bring in the best framework possible to contain the situation. I am happy to tell us all here that enormous work is going on between us and relevant security agents, our partners, particularly those that have been impacted and also the community members. And therefore, I am very optimistic that within the next two to three very very measurable outcomes will come up so that our businesses can continue”, he said.