'Oil workers worry about job loss'

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March 24, 2016 11:30 AM

Ibe Kachikwu, Minister for Petroleum Resources during a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja listed the challenges and worries of oil workers on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.

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Kachikwu highlighted that oil workers were worried the FG would sell the refineries, also about the utilisation of depots and job loss in sector.

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“They are worried about the refineries and are thankful we didn’t sell the refineries without looking to work collaboratively with them to see how to make the refineries work.

“They are worried about the utilization of depots and how best to do that. They are worried about all kinds of logistic issues that plague the oil industry.

‘’They are worried about job loss in the sector, arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving rough end of the sticks and then try to whittle down staff. And so, we are going to be working with the oil majors to ensure that we do not experience the kind of job loss that we are hearing has the potentiality to occur in the sector.

Kachikwu added that the Federal Government is willing to work together with oil workers to solve the challenges in the oil sector.

Read: Nigeria to begin exportation of petroleum, petrochemical products in 4 years

“The assurances His Excellency gave was willingness to work together with them (oil workers) to bring good jobs, tasking them as agents of change within the respective areas where they work to ensure that they continue to look out, contribute, take change on its head and make it happen also and for recognising the difficulties this government has inherited.

“A lot of these problems that are on the table was quite frankly there when we came and we are doing the best we can to try and work on it. But we are looking to work collaboratively, those were the assurances”

In a related news, Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of Petroleum Resources during the closing ceremony of the sixth African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition in Abuja on Thursday, March 18, 2016 stated that Nigerian firms would survive the global hike in crude oil prices.

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The Minister said though business in this time of adversity will not be easy, but companies who embrace new technologies and business strategies are likely to survive.

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