The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources
(Downstream) has launched a probe into the issues affecting the nation’s
downstream oil sector.
Among other things, the committee is expected to probe the controversial
turnaround maintenance of the country’s refineries, the acquisition of OVH
Energy, and the mounting concerns over market dominance by the
Dangote Refinery.
Chairman of the Committee, Ikenga Ugochinyere, disclosed this during a
press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said it was disturbing that after the hype that greeted the return of the
Port Harcourt and Warri refineries to production status, they had to shut
down again.
The committee also announced that it was investigating the bottlenecks
associated with obtaining crude by local and modular refineries, and why
local refiners should travel to Switzerland to negotiate obtaining crude
locally.
According to him, the House intends to find out what went wrong,
especially against the backdrop that the company handling the turnaround
maintenance is a reputable company.
He added that before considering whether or not the refineries should be
sold or privatized, the house will find out what went wrong among other
issues affecting it.
