The President, Petroleum and Natural Gas Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Comrade Festus Osifo, has advised the federal government to acquire at least 45 per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery.
The federal government currently owns a seven per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery.
PENGASSAN said the refineries should be modelled after the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), which appears to have been successful.
Osifo made this known at the presentation of a communique and recommendations from the 3rd edition of the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit in Lagos to the media.
Osifo hinged his advice on the fact that it will foster product availability to meet local demand and ensure energy assurance.
“Ramping up efforts to make the Nation’s four refineries work, once operational, the government should divest the majority share holdings and own at most 49 per cent of the shareholding in the four refineries. Core investors will be brought in to take the 51 per cent as applicable in NLNG.” he said.
Bemoaning a situation whereby the inter land petroleum depots in the six geo-political zones of the country are dilapidated, Osifo stressed the need for the government to get the depots fixed in collaboration with the private sector so as to ensure smooth distribution of petroleum products and enhance the national strategic reserve.
PENGASSAN also called for the expansion of pipelines that could be used in the delivery of refined petroleum products across the length and breadth of the country as this would reduce the pressure put on the roads by trucks carrying the products.
PENGASSAN also recommended digital intervention to curtail crude oil theft; re-engineer security architecture and ensure ease of doing business by reducing bureaucracies or complex regulations that make the gas investment unattractive to investors, among others.
Osifo said those caught for crude oil theft should be punished severally by competent courts of jurisdiction to serve as a deterrent to others.