The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has charged members of Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) to take over operations in the downstream sector of the oil and gas sector.
Speaking to shipowners at the inauguration of the newly-elected SOAN’s executives in Lagos, the group managing director of the NNPC, Mr Maikanti Baru, asked indigenous shipowners to invest in bigger tanker vessels of up to 30,000 metric tonnes.
Baru, who was represented by the general manager, Commercial Shipping of NNPC, Ibrahim Lami, observed that most Nigerian shipowners participate only in the upstream sector of the oil and gas while the downstream is controlled mostly by foreigners.
He charged the SOAN members to take the job from the foreigners by striving to bring in vessels that can transport the 35 million litres of fuel consumed daily by Nigerians.
He said, “Most of the SOAN members operate in the upstream sector of our oil and gas industry, they happen to be the owners of all the vessels that operate with our international oil companies. So I started asking myself what is happening in the downstream where we have our coastal tankers where we try to supply the 35 million litres that Nigerians consume every day?
“Out of the 35 million litres, only five million litres are produced in the country because our three refineries are still operating below capacity. So what happens to the 30 million litres remaining? We import everything. When we import, most of the import vessels cannot even berth at our port, the best among them only come to the Apapa port. For the remaining ones, we have to take our coastal vessels to trans-ship them and bring them to Apapa, Tin can Island, Calabar, Port Harcourt, and Warri.
“Most of these vessels are owned by foreigners, with Nigerians only acting as agents. So I throw this ball at this inauguration for the executives to do something about it. If you cannot bring on a vessel of 30,000mt dwt, at least you can bring in 15,0000mt dwt so that we can sail them into Warri, Calabar, and Port Harcourt,” he said.
Also speaking at the inauguration, the director-general of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, who was represented by the executive director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Gambo Ahmed, said that the agency is working hard to ensure the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessels Finance Fund (CVFF) to the SOAN members.
While acknowledging that the SOAN, under its president, Mr Greg Ogbeifun, is in good hands, Peterside said that “when you see shipowners like these, the first thing that comes to your mind is the CVFF. We at the NIMASA have received knocks from so many corners, the view outside is that the NIMASA is not doing much, but inside we are doing everything possible to make it work,” he said.
Ogbeifun assured that the new executive will continue to encourage strategic engagements with relevant stakeholders to bring about the harmonisation and growth of the sector.