Fears of an impending scarcity of petroleum products gripped the nation last weekend following the issuance of a 21-day ultimatum by two oil industry worker union; the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union_ (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN),
The threat to cause another round of industrial unrests came from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) branch of the two unions on account of the decision of the Federal Government to engage the services of a pre – shipment inspector agent for the nation’s crude oil export terminals.
The ultimatum is coming on the heels of the recently appointment of Cobalt International Services Limited, as pre-shipment inspector for the 21 crude oil export terminals.
Rising from a two-day joint executive council meeting, both PENGASSAN and NUPENG called on government to rescind the decision or risk a crippling industrial action, arguing that the Cobalt International Services contract is tantamount to selling Nigeria’s interests to a foreign firm.
In a communiqué that was both signed by executives of the tow groups, they noted that DPR was already engaged in carrying out pre- shipment functions on all crude exports, even as they alleged that the inspection company will earn 0.1 per cent of Freight on Board (FOB) value of the export which according to them, amounts to about 1,900 barrels of crude oil per day.
“This in monetary terms shows that Nigeria will loose $87,400 daily based on the present market price of $46 per barrel. One can now wonder what the country will lose in a year with an increase in the price of crude oil.” the two groups stressed.
The threat to cause another round of industrial unrests came from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) branch of the two unions on account of the decision of the Federal Government to engage the services of a pre – shipment inspector agent for the nation’s crude oil export terminals.
The ultimatum is coming on the heels of the recently appointment of Cobalt International Services Limited, as pre-shipment inspector for the 21 crude oil export terminals.
Rising from a two-day joint executive council meeting, both PENGASSAN and NUPENG called on government to rescind the decision or risk a crippling industrial action, arguing that the Cobalt International Services contract is tantamount to selling Nigeria’s interests to a foreign firm.
In a communiqué that was both signed by executives of the tow groups, they noted that DPR was already engaged in carrying out pre- shipment functions on all crude exports, even as they alleged that the inspection company will earn 0.1 per cent of Freight on Board (FOB) value of the export which according to them, amounts to about 1,900 barrels of crude oil per day.
“This in monetary terms shows that Nigeria will loose $87,400 daily based on the present market price of $46 per barrel. One can now wonder what the country will lose in a year with an increase in the price of crude oil.” the two groups stressed.
Discussion about this post