NUPENG warns fuel scarcity will continue until local refining takes off
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Fuel scarcity is not about to end soon, despite its crippling effect on social and economic life, because of the “deliberate policy” of the federal government to import rather than produce refined petroleum locally.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said scarcity will linger and the country will also not reap the full benefits of being an oil producer by neglecting local refining of petroleum products.
NUPENG President William Akporeha gave the insights in Ibadan at the fifth Quadrennial Delegates Conference (QDC) of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of NUPENG.
He criticised Niger Delta Governors for failing to invest in local refining of fuel despite having crude oil in their backyard.
He also decried the frequent fuel scarcity in the country but insisted it would not end soon because of Abuja’s deliberate policy of importation rather than local refining.
Akporeha said: “As tanker drivers, our job is to distribute petroleum products whenever available to every nook and cranny across the country. We can only distribute these products when they are available and we are always ready and will continue to do so.
“But if the products are not available, there is nothing we can do. We find it unacceptable whenever we are blamed for scarcity of the products across the country. We hate the buck passing by those concerned, who fail to make the products available.
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Refining is not a rocket science
“We cannot understand why the government has refused to invest in local refining of petroleum products. I can tell you that scarcity of fuel will continue in the country in as much as we depend on importation of these products,” Akporeha added, per Vanguard.
“As a nation, we have no control of the international market environment because petroleum products are international products.
“The vagaries of the international market are what we are suffering today as seen in the high and rising costs of fuel globally. Nigeria is the only oil producing country that depends on importation of products. Refining is not a rocket science.”