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Allow Local Refiners In Petroleum Production –Reps Urge Nigerian Govt
The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to develop a blueprint to allow indigenous refiners in the nation’s petroleum production value chain.
This followed the adoption of a motion on the need to reform and regulate the Nigerian petroleum production activities to integrate artisanal refiners in the production value chain, moved by the House Deputy Minority Whip, Mr George Ozodinobi.
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While moving the motion, Ozodinobi pointed out that it was constitutionally important to harness the nation’s resources to promote its prosperity.
According to him, lives and revenues have been lost “Due to the government’s inability to recognise, regulate, and control artisanal refining of petroleum products,” a practice which he said has been prevalent in the Niger Delta region for decades.
“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,” he said.
The lawmaker also noted that after seven decades of massive devastation and environmental degradation of the Niger Delta with 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 degrade the environment which provides the energy needs of communities in the Niger Delta.
He further urged Nigeria to be committed to the promotion of indigenous technology in line with the examples laid by advanced nations of the world including Japan, the United States of America, and China, among others.
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