Delta resolves industrial dispute, PTI modular refinery mulled

The Delta Government has resolved the dispute between the management of WHASSAN and staff over alleged welfare issues that had halted work at Shell Petroleum Development Company’s (SPDC) Forcados Export Terminal in Burutu Local Council of the state.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the state chief executive, Olisa Ifeajika, stated: “Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, worried about the development, ordered normal operations to resume at the terminal following an urgent meeting of stakeholders to resolve the rift on Monday.

“At the meeting which held at the Government House Annex, Edjeba, Warri, the governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Prince Emmanuel Amgbaduba, warned that his administration will no longer condone further disruption of operations at the terminal by any aggrieved group or firm.”

The governor charged the two parties on terms that would ensure smooth operations at the terminal, adding that the continued rift was not in the interest of anybody, as it had reduced oil production in the country.

He directed the oil major to ‘promptly’ pay pensions and other entitlements of its workers or face contract termination, warning: “Government is not happy with the incessant disruption of operations at the terminal on account of workers’ welfare, and as such, the company must do everything possible to pay the workers their entitlements or risk termination of their contract.”

Okowa added: “The country largely depends on oil exports from the Forcados Terminal to earn revenue for the provision of infrastructure and other developmental needs of our people and we will no longer condone avoidable disruptions in operations. We need a peaceful environment for all firms operating in the state to help us generate the much-needed revenues for our development.”

Besides, a modular refinery designed by engineers at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Effurun is to come on stream soon, its principal and chief executive, Prof. Sunny Iyuke, has disclosed.

Speaking during the institution’s 2019 pre-graduation media briefing, he said the project design had been tested and sanctioned in Turkey.

Iyuke added that the engineers were fortifying the project with the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) to make it operate like the typical refinery.

He disclosed that over N20 billion was needed to fund the facility, promising that the take-off would be made known once the funding issues are sorted out.