CSO Lauds Federal Govt For Taking Steps To Implement Proposal On Artisanal Refining

A civil society organisation, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), has commended the federal government for taking steps to implement its initiative, the Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI).

That the federal government had on August 16, 2023 set up a committee headed by the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, to review and propose the way forward.

PACORDI proposes the modification, modernisation, legalisation and integration of artisanal refineries into the national economy.

YEAC-Nigeria, in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP Sunday in Port Harcourt yesterday, expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for directing the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to review and chart the way forward to legalise and integrate artisanal refineries into mainstream crude oil refineries operations.

The statement, which was signed by the group’s executive director, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, congratulated the various stakeholders including Senator Ita Enang, Ambassador Aduda and all others who worked tirelessly for the initiative to to succeed.

It urged other critical stakeholders to key into the processes for a collective solution to the issues associated with artisanal refineries as an organised crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and even the Gulf of Guinea.

YEAC-Nigeria called on artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta to stop pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and associated environmental pollution pending the legalisation and integration of artisanal refinery activities into mainstream crude oil refining operations.