BY Emmanuel Aziken

The Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) is to expedite action to ensure early passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, the committee chairman, Senator Magnus Abe, has assured.

Speaking at the inauguration of the committee in Abuja, Senator Abe equally gave the committee’s determination to closely monitor the activities of all participants as a way of ensuring that Nigerians benefited maximally from the sector.

Senate President David Mark, who inaugurated the committee, in his speech on the occasion, expressed worry over the state of the nation’s refineries, lamenting the inability of the refineries to produce enough products to meet the need of the country.

Lamenting the rot in the sector, Senator Abe regretted that despite several years of production of crude oil, the country was still bedeviled with epileptic refineries, poor petroleum distribution network and marketing. He noted that Nigeria, which should ordinarily be a net exporter of refined products had been turned into a major importer of the products.

“For our people to benefit from the oil-rich potential of our country the sector must be value driven and run efficiently. We can also create thousands of jobs in the downstream because of it’s production linkages,” Senator Abe declared.

Abe, PDP, Rivers South East, continuing, said: “If after four years the downstream petroleum sector remains the same in terms of employment, job creation, and the number of refineries in operation, then, we should admit that we have failed.”

Appealing for support, he disclosed that the Committee would vigorously pursue the passage of the PIB bill into law because according to him, “the current uncertainty in the petroleum downstream is harmful to long term investments in the industry.”

Senator Mark, on his part, while calling for legislation that would check fraudulent characters in the industry, emphasized that efforts be intensified towards the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, especially through cooperation among stakeholders.