Meanwhile, PENGASSAN has urged the federal government to sustain efforts to implement reforms and incentives to stimulate investment in the country’s oil and gas industry.
The union, in a communique issued at the end of its 5th PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit held in Abuja, called for an integrated national approach to gas development encompassing upstream supply, processing facilities, pipelines, storage, LNG, LPG and CNG infrastructure, alongside commercially sustainable gas pricing, bankable offtake arrangements and creditworthy customers.
In the communique jointly signed by PENGASSAN president Comrade Festus Osifo and General Secretary, Comrade Jerry Amah, the union urged the government and regulators to consolidate recent reforms and incentives that have stimulated renewed investment and Final Investment Decisions, and to ensure that Nigeria remains internationally competitive for capital.
PENGASSAN called for an integrated national approach to gas development encompassing upstream supply, processing facilities, pipelines, storage, LNG, LPG and CNG infrastructure.
It further urged the accelerated utilisation of gas for power generation, manufacturing, transportation, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, and domestic cooking, while reducing routine flaring and methane emissions and converting otherwise wasted gas into economic value.
On domestic refining and value addition, PENGASSAN urged the federal government to sustain policies and investments to expand Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity and reduce the economic inefficiency of exporting crude oil while importing significant volumes of refined petroleum products.
It emphasised the need to protect refineries (such as the Dangote Refinery, the Waltersmith Refinery, and others) within Nigeria’s jurisdiction.
According to PENGASSAN, Nigeria should progressively retain more value from its petroleum resources through domestic refining, petrochemicals, gas processing, and other value-adding activities that generate employment, conserve foreign exchange, and stimulate industrial growth.
On the issue of protection of workers’ rights and industrial harmony, PENGASSAN affirmed that capital and labour are complementary rather than competing interests.
It further called for stronger enforcement of expatriate quota requirements to ensure that foreign expertise is deployed principally where genuine skills gaps exist and is accompanied by measurable knowledge transfer, understudy arrangements and succession plans for qualified Nigerians.
The summit further reaffirmed that host communities must be genuine partners in petroleum development and called for effective implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust framework under the PIA.