By Thompson ABISOLA
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Friday urged the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to build investors’ confidence in the industry.
The association made the call in Lagos in a seven-point communiqué issued at the end of its meeting on the state of the economy and issues affecting the oil and gas industry.
The communiqué, signed by PENGASSAN President Olabode Johnson, said the PIB, which started as the Oil and Gas Sector Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) report in April 2000, had gone through various stages with the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) now at the forefront.
“We urge the government, both the Executive and Legislative arms, to ensure that this Bill is passed before expiration of the tenure of this administration in order to restore investors’ confidence in our industry,’’ it said.
It said that the PIB would also increase the country’s revenue base, while protecting the national economy from the vagaries of global crude oil price fluctuations.
The association, nonetheless, commended the government’s efforts to rehabilitate all the oil depots across the country but advised it to further develop, in concrete terms, the utilisation of gas for domestic use and export.
On workforce casualisation, PENGASSAN decried the continuous employment of workers in the sector as casual, contract or outsource staff.
It stressed that the development was a menace to the growth of the oil and gas industry and vowed that it would continue to resist it until it was resolved.
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