PENGASSAN raises concern over divested oil and gas asset management
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called to question the management system of divested oil and gas assets in the country, stating that vested interests are causing challenges in the sector.
On Wednesday, October 11, the final day of its Energy and Labour Summit held in Abuja, the PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo said that divested assets in the country are not properly managed, and this has caused a lack of trust in the system because people with vested interests are out to adopt cronyism as opposed to protecting national interests.
He said: “We have seen situations where Shell companies in Nigeria have divested some of their joint venture (JV) assets. How have they been managed?
“The greatest problem we have with these people is how they treat Nigerians. So, if an expatriate should come from the United States or France and they treat Nigerians fairly, we prefer it to our own who will treat us like trash.
“We were shocked that our Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) did an evaluation of the local refineries and what they brought as the value of those refineries, cannot even build half of one of the refineries today. This is because they wanted to sell it to their friends, and cronies, so, they undervalued the refineries.
“It was based on that we said no, you cannot throw away our national assets because you have vested interests, you have to fix it, and after fixing it you can bring about the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited model.”
Meanwhile, Engr. Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), stated that selling off assets in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is not all negative.
He pointed out that it can boost local capabilities and create jobs for Nigerians.
Wabote mentioned that over the last ten years, 26 oil mining licenses in the Niger Delta area have been either sold or acquired by oil and gas companies.
He highlighted ongoing divestments, including Shell and ExxonMobil planning to sell oil and gas assets worth billions of dollars.