The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru, says he had engaged investors to establish a refinery in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria. The NNPC GMD, made the disclosure at a two-day PENGASSAN’s Triennial Retreat/Synergy workshop with the theme “Leadership and Team Building for Change in Trade Union Administration” holding in Uyo, the capital of Akwa-Ibom State, also said that the state was well-positioned geographically to have a refinery.
The workshop is expected to provide a platform for forging relationships and strategies for effective collaborations between the unions and other partners towards repositioning the industry for brighter future. “The investors have been coming to us and I have seen one that is quite promising. It is in this light that I encouraged these investors to come and see the state government and discuss,” he stated.
Dr. Baru explained that although the preferred location of the investors was not Akwa Ibom State, but he had convinced them to consider establishing the refinery there, to leverage, especially on the state’s deep coastline. The GMD then called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to explore partnership opportunities provided by investors towards establishing the refinery in the state.
Speaking further at the opening of the two-day event in Uyo, Dr. Baru called on industry players to brace up for change in the sector. He stressed that the current state of the international energy market, the urgent need to rehabilitate the nation’s refineries as well as the Petroleum Industry (Governance) Bill currently being considered by the National Assembly, were dire challenges, necessitating that the industry charts a new course
He then seized the opportunity of the event to commend the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, for their role in ensuring harmony in the nation’s Oil and Gas Industry, saying this has helped stabilize petroleum products supply across the country.
In his remark, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, was represented by one of his special advisers, Pastor Umoh Bassey, who urged oil companies in the country to deploy more resources to sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in their host communities, as he further commended PENGASSAN for the role they play in moving the nation’s economy forward.
