The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), says its plan to build mobile refineries in the country is still on course.
President of the union, Mr Babatunde Ogun, told our correspondent yesterday that PENGASSAN would accomplish the task in collaboration with other unions like NUPENG and the Trade Union Congress
He explained that the mobile refineries would have a production capacity of thirty thousand litres per day would be sited at strategic places in the country.
According to him, this would go a long way in nipping in the bud the deluge of fuel importation into the country.
“PENGASSAN and other unions like the Trade Union Congress, NUPENG and etc are still talking and our talk has reached an advanced stage on the establishment of mobile refineries with 30thousand production capacity per day.
This would go a long way in arresting perennial petroleum scarcity in the country.
Ogun had told our correspondent last year that the decision to establish the refineries was borne out of the recent announcement by the Federal Government that it had removed the mandatory $1 million deposit placed on investors wishing to establish private refineries in the country.
He said that the current effort of government had automatically paved the way for the unions to own a refinery with a view to solving the nation’s perennial shortage of petroleum products.
He said that PENGASSAN in collaboration with the other unions would raise funds for the bid through the various union members.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to back its statement with action as the nation could not afford to be perpetually locked in energy crisis.
He said that as a follow up to the removal of the $1 million deposit for potential private refinery owners, the government should fashion out laws that would make it a crime to import petroleum products into country.
He said that the development would arrest the spate of importation as well as assure patronage for local refiners and marketers of petroleum products.
Speaking on the recent union’s industrial action over the planned sack of 50 per cent PENGASSAN members on the payroll of major oil marketers in the country, Ogun said the strike had been suspended through the intervention of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Chukwuemeka at meeting he held with stakeholders in the sector last week in Lagos.
According to him, a communiqué signed at the end of the meeting agreed that the marketers should rescind their decision on the sack and that the ministry would monitor the development for the next one month.
