Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, has called for dialogue between Dangote Refinery and oil workers’ unions to resolve their ongoing labour dispute.
In a statement on Sunday, Komolafe urged the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and other parties involved to find common ground in the interest of national energy security.
“Regardless of the fact that the issues involved are purely midstream and downstream affairs, our take is that parties should refrain from what will cause disruption in energy supply in the country. We believe that parties can actually sit down, discuss and reach an amicable solution for the good of the country,” he said.
The appeal comes amid reports that the refinery is facing industrial unrest following the dismissal of some workers and alleged labour rights violations.
Komolafe also used the opportunity to highlight progress made in reducing oil losses and curbing theft in Nigeria’s upstream sector. He attributed the improvement to directives from President Bola Tinubu, which he said had slashed crude oil losses by about 90 per cent since 2021.
The NUPRC chief noted that the commission introduced pioneering regulations, the Upstream Measurement Regulation and the Advanced Cargo Declaration Regulation to tighten monitoring of oil production and export.
“For the first time, Nigeria now has regulations that track crude oil loaded from its terminals to the discharge point. If a tanker loads one million barrels of crude and ends up discharging 1.2 million, the system will instantly flag it,” he explained.
He further revealed that nearly 700 upstream metering points had undergone engineering integrity assessments, marking a critical step toward real-time tracking of production and exports.
According to him, these reforms would not only protect Nigeria’s oil and gas assets but also boost investor confidence in the sector.
