Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has resolved to hold a rally across four main Nigerian cities ahead of plans to withdraw from oil and gas installations in protest against the increasing oil theft and vandalism.
The rally which is to sensitise Nigerians about the effects of the increasing oil theft will hold simultaneously at Abuja, Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt, according to Festus Osifo, the President of PENGASSAN who lamented the devastating effect of oil theft on the nation’s economy
After the rally, Osifo, Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, declared that oil workers are ready to withdraw their services if the government continues to pay lip service to their demands of fighting the menace with sincerity and sense of purpose.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva in August disclosed that oil theft has reduced the nation’s oil output by 400,000 barrels per day (BPD), translating to a drop from 1.8 million to 1.4 million BPD.
Gbenga Komolafe, the head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, corroborated this, stating that Nigeria lost $1 billion in revenue during the first quarter of this year owing to crude oil theft. He said that, of the 141 million barrels of oil produced in the first quarter of 2022, only about 132 million barrels of oil were received at export terminals.
“This indicates that over nine million barrels of oil were lost to crude oil theft … this amounts to a loss in government revenue of about $1 billion … in just one quarter,” Komolafe said in a statement in July.
The PENGASSAN boss who noted that governments in other climes would have deployed high technology to fight such heinous crimes of sabotage is however saddened that despite the hues and cries and the damage oil theft and pipeline vandalism are doing to the nation’s economy, the Federal Government appears to be helpless.
Osifo said the growing incidents of oil theft are a real-time challenge and urged the government to develop the muscle and the political will to chase out oil thieves vandalising the nation’s pipelines.
He blamed some cartels for the menace, accusing them of feeding fat on the nation’s wealth, as well as sabotaging the economy.
The PENGASSAN boss noted that crude oil theft had crumbled the economy and the union could no longer hold its breath, stressing that ‘beginning today across four states in Abuja, Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt, all members of PENGASSAN will embark on a rally across strategic locations to sensitise the nation on the dangers and economic losses inherent in crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
Owing to oil theft, Nigeria could no longer meet up with the OPEC quota of 1.8 million barrels of crude oil while the country struggles to produce a million barrels as companies are shutting down production because the products are stolen.
Osifo said the union had engaged and dialogued with critical stakeholders, agencies of government and service chiefs on how to curb oil theft, stating that despite all meetings, none had yielded the desired result, due to the cartels that are largely feasting on it and crumbling the economy.
To this end, he said the union could not take it anymore and would embark on a national rally to sensitise Nigerians on what is going on in the sector and the reason the economy is not growing abysmally.
He said if the rally did not achieve its purpose, the union would pull out the entire workforce in all oil and gas installations across the country, for a total showdown.
According to him, this is the first time crude oil price is hitting the roof of $100 per barrel in the international market but the country has nothing to show for it
“This is a menace that is leapfrogging the country. This is the reason Nigeria keeps borrowing to finance the national budget. Enough is enough. We have to add our voices to the current struggle. It is not going to be a one-off thing. Companies are shutting down, our members are losing their jobs in services and producing companies.
“The business is that bad now because companies are struggling to sustain the workforce. This is a real crisis and the government of the day must develop the muscle and political will to chase out the oil thieves. What is happening is beyond the blame game. This is the time to practice what we have been saying. The earlier the government acts, the better for the economy,” he said.
