NUPRC calls for dialogue to resolve Dangote, PENGASSAN dispute

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

Abuja—The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, has urged Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to resoluteness their quality done dialogue, informing against actions that could disrupt the nation’s vigor supply.

Speaking during an interrogation connected Arise Television, Komolafe besides appealed to the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to articulation successful uncovering communal crushed with Dangote Refinery, stressing that concern disagreements should not beryllium allowed to endanger nationalist vigor stability.

A connection by the Head of Media and Strategic Communication, Eniola Akinkuotu, quoted the NUPRC brag arsenic saying: “Regardless of the information that the issues progressive are purely mid and downstream affairs, our instrumentality is that parties should refrain from what volition origin disruption successful vigor proviso successful the country. We judge that the issues progressive are matters that parties tin beryllium down, discuss, and resoluteness amicably for the bully of the nation.”

The quality arose pursuing the dismissal of immoderate workers astatine Dangote Refinery, which PENGASSAN described arsenic unfair and unacceptable. The national accused the refinery of violating labour rights and threatened concern enactment if the substance is not resolved. Dangote Refinery, however, insists its employment and disciplinary procedures comply with planetary champion practices.

Concerns person mounted implicit imaginable disruptions astatine the refinery, which is cardinal to Nigeria’s propulsion for self-sufficiency successful refined petroleum products.

Beyond labour relations, Komolafe highlighted important advancement successful tackling crude lipid losses, attributing it to a premix of kinetic and non-kinetic measures introduced by the Commission successful enactment with President Bola Tinubu’s directives. He revealed that crude lipid losses had dropped by astir 90 per cent since 2021, acknowledgment to tighter regulations and improved information collaboration.

According to him, the Commission has introduced 2 pioneering frameworks — the Upstream Measurement Regulation and the Advanced Cargo Declaration Regulation — to guarantee each tube of crude loaded astatine Nigeria’s terminals is digitally tracked to the discharge point.

“For the archetypal clip successful implicit 70 years of lipid exploration successful Nigeria, we present person regulations that way each molecule of crude lipid from the loading constituent to the discharge point. If a tanker loads 1 cardinal barrels and discharges supra the permitted volume, the strategy volition instantly emblem it,” Komolafe explained.

He further disclosed that astir 700 metering facilities had undergone integrity assessments arsenic portion of an engineering audit designed to fortify transparency successful crude lipid measurement.

While stressing that the regulatory model had greatly reduced crude theft, Komolafe emphasized that concern harmony successful the lipid and state sector—particularly resolving the quality involving Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN—remained captious for sustaining capitalist assurance and ensuring uninterrupted vigor supply.

The station NUPRC calls for dialog to resoluteness Dangote, PENGASSAN dispute appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.