“As long as we continue to import fuel, we will face challenges- Fawibe

By Ayobami Adedinni
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, International Energy Services Limited, Dr. Diran Fawibe, has said that as long as the nation continues to import fuel, issues of fuel scarcity will arise.
According to him, the downstream sector has not performed optimally adding that no one can justifiably query the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) for why it has to been importing at more than the selling price which they then have to pay the different in form of subsidy.
Speaking in an exclusive chat with our correspondent at the weekend, he said due process must be followed by the NNPC in order to appropriate money for subsidy.
He said, “The downstream sector has not performed optimally. We have the problem of the refineries not working and it is a stop point in the industry for Nigerians.
“How do we solve this problem? The manifestation of the problem is the recent scarcity of fuel during the Christmas season. It appears as if we have given up to fixing the refineries or we are just playing lip service.
“Efforts are now concentrated on the importation of fuel till when Dangote refinery come on stage. People are looking at modular refinery, as a sought of panacea to the issue of supply of fuel and fuel scarcity.
“We have conflicting report about the number of modular refineries, some say ten, and some say three would the level of production but we still have the issue of illegal refinery going on there. We see lot of mineral resources been destroyed by militant.
“The downstream sector is not good in this area. So, for the refining sector, we cannot say we have achieved the desired results.
He said, “NNPC in order to help itself must do what is needful and should not allow the corporation be put on the spot as they were in trying to solve very difficult and attractable problem.
“Government may need to put its act together to ensure that Nigerians get what they deserve and encourage them to pay for it. The same goes for power too,” he said.
Speaking further, Fawibe said a key factor to attracting investment in the sector is by passing the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB)
The Bill seeks to open up the sector to more and better business opportunities, make the sector more transparent and ensure better accountability of revenue derived from oil.
If the Bill scales through assent by the President, it would restructure the Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation, Department for Petroleum Resources and also create new agencies with more responsibilities.
He stated that the gas development project has been politicized adding that people in the communities where it is to be located are not helping themselves.
He said, “the people of these communities are not helping themselves. The development for various projects clamours for that scheme.
“If the schemes are pursued with tenacity, it will change the landscape of Niger Delta and it will tend to give the people confidence and sense of belonging.
“Although, nobody is talking about the gas scheme anymore and you can bet it with the politics of 2019 started to come up, you may not hear anything about it in the foreseeable future. This is very unfortunate.