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 Daily Independent Online.
* Monday, July 26, 2004.
Oil industry stakeholders to stabilise sector
By
Bassey Udo,
Snr Correspondent, Abuja
To
stem the spate of crisis in the nation’s oil and gas industry as a result
of incessant hikes over the prices of petroleum products, stakeholders
are considering the formation of a separate body to liaise with the
Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in the discharge of
its functions.
The formation
of the proposed body, whose membership is expected to be drawn from the
relevant industry sectors, was said to be part of the resolutions reached
last week between Federal Government representatives and the two oil industry
workers unions, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG), on broad issues aimed at stabilising the petroleum
sector.
Alleging that
the PPPRA has not been carrying others along on decisions concerning
prices of petroleum products, the stakeholders argued that the proposed
body if established would liaise regularly with the regulatory agency on
issues to promote self-sufficiency in petroleum products supply,
particularly as they relate to marketing, refining and distribution.
The mandate
of the new body, Daily Independent learnt, would include making
periodic recommendations to the PPPRA on market fundamental and other
factors that would mitigate the negative social impacts usually
associated with rising petroleum products prices.
On the oil
windfall, the stakeholders said a framework for sharing and accessing of
funds from the crude oil sale should be determined by the Federal
Ministry of Finance to forestall macro-economic instability.
Reiterating
the call for the resolution of all issues relating to the concerns of the
oil producing communities in the Niger Delta, the stakeholders draw
attention to the importance of security of petroleum pipelines as well as
lives and properties of the people in the region to create the enabling
atmosphere for peaceful operations.
On the recent
announcement of the appointment of Basil Omiyi as the first ever-Nigerian
managing director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the
stakeholders lauded the appointment.
management of
the company for its respect to social dialogue, saying the decision was a
positive step in the direction to attain the objectives of its “Save Our
Future” initiative.
They, however, called on Shell
to move quickly towards the implementation of all other agreements
reached between its contractors’ forum and contract staff in line with
resolutions to end all unfair Labour practices in the nation’s oil and
gas industry.
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