The Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) are gearing for a action against the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke over her claim that 60 per cent of oil lifting contracts for 2014 have been awarded to Nigerian indigenous companies.
The Chairman of NISA, Chief Isaac Jolapamo who made this known while addressing journalists Tuesday at the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN) International Maritime Press Centre in Lagos, said that the statement credited to the Petroleum Minister was misleading.
Jolapamo also said that series of attempts by his association to get clarification of the statement attributed to the Minister were not replied by her office.
“We even went as far as making series of calls to her number but no response. I also tried to reach her by sending text messages to her but to no avail.
“We have tried to reach them on our part. We have tried also to meet the Minister severally. We cannot force them to talk to us if they don’t want to engage us,” Jolapamo stated.
Alison-Madueke had stirred the hornet nest last week when she said that 60 per cent of crude oil lifting contracts in 2014 have been awarded to shipping companies owned by Nigerians.
The Minister said that the move was part of the Federal Government’s objective to encourage effective local participation in the oil and gas industry.
She said the balance was shared among some international trading companies, refineries and to some countries with bilateral trade agreements with Nigeria.
But the NISA Chairman had challenged the Petroleum Ministry to publish the names of the Nigerian companies that are lifting the crude if she is sincere with her claims.
Besides, Chief Jolapamo said that the crude oil lifting contract is nothing new and has not changed “anything”.
He said crude lifting contract is different from crude carriage contract which his association has agitated for over twelve years.
“The crude lifting the Minister talked about is nothing but the marketing of Nigeria’s crude oil abroad to buyers. What is important is the carriage of crude oil. No Nigerian company has ever carried the nation’s crude oil. The lifting contract should normally be tied to carrying contracts otherwise nothing has changed. Nigeria’s crude oil is still sold on FOB,” he stated.
Jolapamo also said that the Nigerian oil traders that were granted the lifting rights by the Petroleum Ministry have not complied with the “condition precedent concerning the engagement of Nigerian shipping companies”.
“As far as we know, no Nigerian registered shipping company has been engaged by the oil traders for the carriage (of crude oil),” he stated.
The NISA Chairman said the federal government should review the list of successful oil traders and publish the names of Nigerian shipping companies alongside the Nigerian oil traders.
“This is the least requirement if the government wants to demonstrate openness. That way, it will be open to all to verify the existence of the shipping companies and to confirm that they are registered with NIMASA and Directorate of Petroleum Resources,” he said.
Also speaking on the matter, the Secretary of NISA, Captain Niyi Labinjo, said sidelining Nigerian ship owners in the carriage of the nation’s crude amounts to impunity against the Nigerian Content Development Act and the law establishing the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
He accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of frustrating the efforts of past governments to engage indigenous shipping companies in the carriage of the nation’s crude oil.
Labinjo punctured holes in the claims that indigenous shipping companies lack capacity to transport the nation’s crude oil.
“Successive governments have been trying to make sure they bring in Nigerian ship owners to carry Nigerian crude but each time it is frustrated by NNPC. Obasanjo wrote it clearly that it should be. There is something they say often and which is very sad. They say they lack capacity. There is nothing like we lack capacity. You don’t ask me to go and bring a ship and tie the ship down before you will give me the contract. That is not the way shipping trade is done,” Labinjo said.
