Stakeholders in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector, alongside several civil society groups, have cautioned that continued neglect in supplying crude oil to local refineries could undermine Nigeria’s economic sovereignty and derail national energy security goals.
Speaking during a rally at UTC Junction in Port Harcourt, Convener of Partners for National Economic Progress, Olamide Odumosu, urged President Bola Tinubu to create an enabling environment where local oil refining companies can operate without fear or undue pressure.
Odumosu described as “unacceptable” the practice by some government agencies of hiding under the “willing supplier, willing buyer” clause to frustrate crude supply to the Dangote Refinery — a development he said runs contrary to the spirit of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
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“As an oil producing country, the matter of supply of crude to local refineries (in this case, the Dangote Refinery) is not only a matter of Law as stated in the Petroleum Industry Act, but a manner of patriotic duty, national consciousness and economic prosperity drive,” Odumosu stated while describing the process of Dangote Refinery relying on foreign crude disheartening and embarrassing because of its inability of sourcing product locally.
He noted that the recent expansion of the Dangote Refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day should be viewed as a matter of national pride and continental significance, calling on the President to direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to prioritise local supply over foreign export contracts.
According to him, both the spirit and letter of the PIA mandate upstream operators to supply crude oil to domestic refineries at fair prices in order to encourage investment and safeguard local capacity.
“It is for this reason that the PIA encourages regulatory agencies to formulate policies that will ensure the supply of crude to local refineries, including imposing sanctions where necessary,” he said.
Also speaking, Comrade Danielson Prince, Convener of the Niger Delta Youth Council, warned that Nigeria’s continued importation of crude oil for domestic refining is “detrimental to economic growth” and defeats the very essence of being an oil-producing nation.
The groups, under the rally theme “National Unity Against Sabotage: Reclaiming the Petroleum Sector for the People”, pledged sustained advocacy until what they termed “economic justice in crude allocation” is achieved.
