As Nigeria’s energy crisis worsens with scarcity of petroleum products including the Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) and aviation fuel, two energy experts have said the situation will get worse except the federal government brings the local refineries back on stream.
They also warned government not to compound the matter by attempting to remove subsidy from PMS, arguing that the deregulation of diesel made the product to jump from N80 per litre to the current N800 per litre.
Speaking on the topic: Deregulation, Subsidy and Scarcity on Channels Television breakfast programme Sunrise Saturday, Engineer Zakka Bala, Energy Expert and Kayode Ekundayo, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Energy Times newspapers, blamed the federal government for the persistent energy crisis in Nigeria.
Zakka, a Petroleum Engineer and Oil/Gas analyst posited that the only solution to end fuel scarcity in Nigeria is for the federal government to ensure the crude oil produced in Nigeria is sold to Nigeria refineries in naira and the end products sold in naira to save the country huge foreign exchange that is being used to import refined petroleum products including PMS for local consumption.
Said he: “It’s not a rocket science to resolve the scarcity of petroleum products in Nigeria. The problem is that the federal government is not thinking out of the box. The solution is to refine the Nigerian crude oil in Nigeria and sell the by-products in Nigeria in our local currency. The moment you do that the crisis will end”.
Zakka insists that oil and gas industry is not properly run in Nigeria, arguing that Oil Prospecting Companies (OPC) in Nigeria combined do not have upto 10 rigs producing crude hence he doubts how the country will meets her international energy organisation’s crude oil quota.
Explaining further, Zakka argued that from the Upstream sector which covers oil Discovery, Exploration and management of Well-head, through the Midstream which involves oil Refinery and Transportation of products to Downstream sector involving Retail outlets, the industry is messed up.
The Energy expert however mocked the federal government for behaving as if crude oil refining is a rocket science, pointing out refining is basic Chemistry experiments which should not pose a problem if the experts are given the job to execute.
He therefore wondered why one year after the federal government spent $1.5bn on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery, which many people described as moribund then, no drop of petroleum product has been produced in the refinery.
Also speaking on the topic Ekundayo, whose newspapers focuses on energy sector wants Nigeria refineries to start producing petroleum products without further delay to save the country from plunging into more crisis.
According to him: “the only solution to end the fuel scarcity is to refine the Nigerian crude oil in Nigeria and sell it in Nigeria, some will still be smuggled out of the country through the pours borders”.
Ekundayo also disclosed that Nigeria is currently importing petroleum products from neighbouring countries especially Benin Republic, the same country where smugglers sell Nigerian petroleum products.
