Federal Government
has said it is ready to grant approval to indigenous shipping firms to export
crude oil and stem the nation’s huge capital flight.
This is coming 17
years after the liquidation of the Nigerian National Shipping Line, which paved
the way for only foreign marine tankers to move the nation’s crude oil.
Nigeria is said to
have lost over $100bn in five decades by allowing its crude oil to be carried
exclusively by foreign owned tankers.
The Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the Senior Special Adviser to
the President on Maritime Sevices, Olugbenga Oyewole, spoke about the planned
approval for local shipping firms to move crude oil at the unveiling of two
high-capacity oil vessels in Warri, Delta State.
An indigenous
firm, Ocean Marine Tankers, which owns the two vessels, has also applied to the
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency for a national carrier
status, according to the top government officials.
But before the
approval, which NIMASA promised to facilitate in a few weeks, the vessels would
supply crude oil to the Warri and Kaduna refineries, they said.
Alison-Madueke
said the government was committed to the full implementation of the Cabotage
Law and the Nigerian Content Law, which provide that 50 per cent of
government’s cargoes should be carried by Nigerian vessels.
The minister, who
spoke through the Group Executive Director, Refineries and Petrochemicals,
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Anthony Ogbuigwe, also said the menace
of oil theft and pipeline vandalism had compelled the government to use ships
to transport crude oil.
She urged all oil
communities to stand up against the crimes and expose their perpetrators.
No comments:
Post a Comment