Rivers state-based Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN) has again sounded the alarm of an approaching fuel shortage, which arose due to a massive interruption of the regional petroleum distribution supply chain.
The organisation has urged the federal government to wade in to try and settle the situation after a violent confrontation between the Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) and Petroleum Transport Drivers (PTD).
From PETROAN’s spokesperson, Joseph Obele, the state’s oil and gas sector has been effectively stopped from operating as of January 16th because of the strike. The crisis is due to ADITOP’s efforts to venture into the sector of operation without compliance with industry norms and also an absence of necessary endorsements from stakeholders.
PETROAN stressed that in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, recognition cannot be achieved without approval from some stakeholders, especially the Minister of Petroleum, and cannot ignore some industry players like NUPENG (Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers).
The organisation noted that how ADITOP entered the market, tackling Rivers State as a pilot for the rest of the country, has severe operational disturbances.
It has got to the worst state with NUPENG threatening to suspend all its memberships’ petroleum products lifting in Rivers State. This suspension occasioned by the internal union crisis between ADITOP and PTD can have severe effects on the state economy and its people.
A victim of the continued pollution, PETROAN has called on the government of Rivers State to declare an emergency on the activities of ADITOP. It has urged governments to act fast before the matter deteriorates into a calamity, which would lead to?
Heavy losses are estimated in billions of naira to the affected sectors and threaten lives and property.
The organization called for an early resolution of this conflict to avoid a total shutdown of this station which will cause a lot of hardship to the people of Rivers State and continued disruption of their economic activities.
This makes PETROAN call on both the government and petroleum business players to take necessary action that will ensure that normal functioning of the petroleum distribution network is attained in that state and to avert a dangerously fuel-starved situation in the state.
