The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to consolidate recent oil and gas reforms and accelerate investment in gas infrastructure, domestic refining and value addition.
The union issued the recommendations after its fifth Energy and Labour Summit in Abuja.
PENGASSAN said Nigeria needed an integrated national gas strategy covering upstream supply, processing facilities, pipelines, storage, liquefied natural gas, cooking gas and compressed natural gas infrastructure.
The association also called for commercially sustainable gas pricing, bankable offtake arrangements and creditworthy customers.
It said recent reforms and incentives that encouraged new investment and final investment decisions should be sustained to keep Nigeria competitive for global capital.
PENGASSAN wants greater use of gas in electricity generation, manufacturing, transportation, fertilizer production, petrochemicals and domestic cooking.
It also called for reduced routine gas flaring and methane emissions.
On refining, the union urged government to continue policies that expand domestic capacity and reduce the practice of exporting crude while importing large quantities of refined products.
It said refineries operating within Nigeria should be protected through stable and competitive policy.
The union cited large and smaller domestic refineries as important parts of the country’s effort to retain more value from petroleum resources.
PENGASSAN said refining, petrochemicals and gas processing could create jobs, conserve foreign exchange and support industrial growth.
The association also stressed that labour and capital should be treated as complementary interests.
It called for stronger enforcement of expatriate quota rules so that foreign expertise was used mainly where genuine skills gaps existed.
PENGASSAN said foreign employment arrangements should include measurable knowledge transfer and succession plans for qualified Nigerians.
The union also called for full implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act. It said host communities needed to be treated as genuine partners in petroleum development if the industry was to maintain stability
