An energy consultant, Ademola Adigun, says fingerprinting Nigerian crude supported with international advocacy will permanently address frequent crude oil theft in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adigun said on Thursday in Lagos that fingerprinting is a process that gives the crude oil a unique identifier from Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany types of oil exist, we may need to tell one oil from another during a spill. The chemical composition of oil found in the environment yields important clues about its origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe process of determining where a sample of oil (or hydrocarbon residue) originated is what we call fingerprinting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the way it is done with diamond in Liberia and other countries. It makes it difficult to purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn crude oil theft, the focus should be detailed implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) particularly the Host Community sections. That may also reduce it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut a more permanent solution is to consider fingerprinting Nigerian crude supported with international advocacy,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On fuel scarcity, Adigun said that full deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry remains the best option to resolve frequent scarcity in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that full deregulation would automatically eliminate subsidy, adding that subsidy payments was harmful to the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, elimination of subsidy will also allow investment into the critical areas needed by the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The expert said: \u201clingering fuel scarcity is a function of price. Full deregulation will allow for more imports by players other than Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe current monopoly of petroleum importation by NNPC is part of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrivate sector companies have proved reliable to a large extent. Is it not time we have a real midstream?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are no other short-term measures. NNPC does not have dollars to issue orders for the needs of Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe possible short term measure is to adjust prices and partial removal of subsidy. Then there is the challenge of the 0.5 per cent charge on products from the value chain in the downstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat should reduce to 0.2 per cent until growth is achieved in that sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adigun urged the government to ensure the proper implementation of PIA and remove the monopoly power of the NNPC to foster required economy development in the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On refinery, Adigun said, \u201cthe problems of the refineries go beyond privatisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe refineries will not be profitable in a regulated environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRefinery margins are low. So, changing the management will not guarantee success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd who will be interested in purchasing our refineries now with Dangote coming on stream in the second quarter of 2023?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat is the point of holding moribund assets\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
An energy consultant, Ademola Adigun, says fingerprinting Nigerian crude supported with international advocacy will permanently address frequent crude oil theft in the country. Adigun said on Thursday in Lagos that fingerprinting is a process that gives the crude oil a unique identifier from Nigeria. \u201cMany types of oil exist, we may need to tell one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[949,908],"tags":[162],"class_list":["post-46340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-oil-gas","tag-oil","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n