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Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Mr. Ita Enang, has advocated for the harmonisation of illegal refineries in a bid to develop local capacity in the oil and gas said it was time Nigeria embraced modular refining of oil and develop local capacity in the sub-sector.
Enang, made this known when he featured on News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, where he advised that, rather than destroy “illegal refineries’’, the operators should be encouraged and regulated.
He said that with plans by some developed economies to ban the use of petrol-driven cars in a few years, Nigeria should develop its refining capacity to stand up to any surprise that may come up.
He explained that if the use of electric cars was actualised in the near future, the countries refining Nigeria’s crude may stop refining, leaving the country with no option but to refine its crude locally.
According to him, it was expedient for Nigeria to think ahead by developing and integrating the modular refineries.
“Some countries have given notice that they will no longer use petrol and some petroleum bye-products in a very short while.
You know it is what they stop using that they will send to the third world countries and when they stop using petrol cars, they may also stop refining for us.
This makes it absolutely necessary for us as a country to develop our refining capacity by integrating the local refineries and stop calling them illegal. Let us think of the cost of sending soldiers to these creeks, the cost of accommodating and equipping them to destroy the refineries,” he said.
He, however, stated that some people were taking advantage of the situation to enrich themselves.
“Why do some big men want to be posted to be in charge of those areas? In fact, only few of those refineries are destroyed and shown on camera.
So, we better face reality and regulate them, give them the license and crude. If you do not give them the crude, they will take it any way.
These people do not break the pipeline for the oil to spill; they break the pipeline to take the crude. So, if you give them the crude, they will not break the pipeline,’’ he advised.
The Presidential Aide said contrary to beliefs that the operators of the “illegal refineries” lack technical know-how; most of them are graduates with detailed knowledge on refining of crude and an organised chain of activities.
He noted that the operators of these refineries in the creeks have trainees while the graduates among them train the others.
“There are those who see to the refining, there are those who manage the post-refining disposal and there are those who manage the relocation of the products.
Also, there are those who manage the security. That is, those that relate with the appropriate persons to know when security agencies are coming for them to know when to move to another location.
