Reps urge FG to develop blueprint for indigenous refineries

The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Federal Government to develop a blueprint for involving indigenous refiners in the nation’s petroleum production.

This followed the adoption of a motion on the “Need to reform and regulate Nigerian petroleum production activities to integrate artisanal refiners into the production value chain,” moved by the House Deputy Minority Whip, Hon. George Ozodinobi, at the plenary session presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu.

While moving the motion, Hon. Ozodinobi noted that “constitutionally, it is important to harness the nation’s resources to promote its prosperity.”

He argued that lives and revenues have been lost “due to the government’s inability to recognize, regulate, and control artisanal refining of petroleum products,” a practice that, according to him, has been prevalent in the Niger Delta region for decades.

He noted that in 2016, “the Federal Government proposed the integration of artisanal refiners into mainstream operations in the oil and gas sector to promote the inclusion of more local content in the industry and advance the use of home-grown technology in the refining of petroleum products in the region.”

The lawmaker pointed out that after seven decades of massive devastation and environmental degradation of the Niger Delta and its ecosystem, policymakers are still oblivious to the crucial need to encourage artisanal refining and lay a foundation for the local technology that will salvage Nigeria from its energy poverty.

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He lamented the stigmatization of indigenous artisanal refiners as ‘oil thieves,’ stressing that “the deployment of the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies to destroy artisanal refineries in an unprofessional manner further degrades the environment, which provides the energy needs of communities in the Niger Delta.”

This neglect of local refiners, according to the lawmaker, “has left Nigeria with four moribund refineries for decades, a globally rated exporter of crude oil, and a chronic importer of finished petroleum products, with a litany of woes as confirmed by the ongoing fuel crisis and validated by the alleged conspiracy against the Dangote Refinery.”

He further urged Nigeria to commit to promoting indigenous technology in line with the examples set by advanced nations, including Japan, the United States of America, and China, among others.

When put to a voice vote, the motion was unanimously supported by members and was referred to the Committees on Petroleum Resources Downstream, Upstream, and Midstream as well as Local Content for further legislative action, with a report due back within four weeks.