LAGOS – The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has advocated all inclusive stakeholders’ conference which will address issues pertaining to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to quicken its passage.
PENGASSAN’s President Francis Johnson said at a conference in Lagos on Friday that such conference would help to address grey areas in the bill, in a fair and equitable manner.
According to him, irregular funding of Joint Venture (JV) budget and non-payment of cash call obligations, in the face of the dwindling oil price, had affected the passage of the bill.
“The uncertainty and lack of alignment with the industry’s operators on the proposed fiscal regime in the PIB is prolonging the stay of action on the stalled investment,’’ he said.
The union president also said that there was anxiety among host communities waiting to benefit from the PIB’s provision of 10 per cent Host Community Fund.
He added that the host communities were also apprehensive of accepting accountability for the sabotage of oil installations in their areas.
Johnson said that the summit was also pertinent as it would enable government to address pipeline vandalism which had increased crude oil theft to over 400,000 barrel per day.
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“Pipeline vandalism is a major dent to national and business integrity in the oil and gas industry.
“The menace is the cause of incessant shut-in production, and unbearable cost of maintenance and repair,’’ he said.
Johnson said that there should be regular surveillance by core experts to evaluate pipeline integrity and proffer necessary action.
He said that government should review the enabling law for sanctioning violators. (NAN)
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