He made the assertion at the 2002 graduation of students of the Petroleum Training Institute.

The minister who was represented by Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, said the Federal Government was making concerted efforts to curtail the menace.

He said crude oil theft had impacted negatively on the nation’s foreign exchange inflow.

Oil theft has denied the country of an estimated 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The adverse effect of this is the drop in the production of crude oil and decline in the national income,’’ he said.

He said the petroleum ministry would synergise with the National Assembly to ensure that adequate attention was given to the amendment of the PTI Act.

Sylva said that the institute could achieve more if the PTI Act was amended to enable the institute to have access to more funding.

He said the ministry had given PTI mandates in different areas of research into the use of local materials in crude oil production, stoppage of gas flaring and the commercialisation of gas, among others.

The minister advised the institute to embrace contemporary ways and methods to deliver on its mandates following global rapid changes in technology.

Sylva also advised the institute to liaise with relevant parastatal agencies of government and local and international oil companies for the continued upgrade of relevant training curricula.

Sylva congratulated the graduates and assured them that there were opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

“The skills you acquired will be pivotal in actualising the ever-evolving goals in the oil and gas industry.

“I am saying this confidently because the world still relies largely on hydrocarbons,’’ he said.

Earlier, Dr Henry Adimula, the Principal and Chief Executive Officer of PTI said 1,156 graduates would receive diplomas and certificates for the 20220/2021 academic session.

Out of this figure, 659 will be awarded National Diploma and 501 will be awarded Higher National Diploma, while six graduates will receive the PTI General Welding Certificates.

“I am delighted to inform you that out of these number, 112 students graduated with distinction while 380 graduated with upper credits,’’ he said.

Adimula said PTI’s vision and mission, anchored on competence and capacity, had distinguished it as a Centre of Excellence for human capacity development in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and beyond.

He appealed to the National Assembly and major stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to support the amendment of the PTI Act.

According to him, the amendment will enable the oil and gas institute to perform its duties effectively in line with a global trend.

The principal said a major challenge confronting the institute was the cost of funding the training of its personnel locally and internationally.

“The infrastructure of the institute is presently overstretched and needs refurbishment, innovation and complete replacement of others,’’ he stressed.

Sylva who hinted this at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the development of the compressed natural gas is still in progress.

Fielding questions on the state of the ongoing repairs of the nation’s refineries, Sylva said, “The old one with 60,000 barrels per day capacity, would be functional by the end of 2022. We are also progressing both Warri and Kaduna refineries.

“On the country’s CNG development programme, we are making progress to ensure that all the facilities are put in place including the pumping stations and the conversion kits because those things must be put in place before the removal of petrol subsidy.

He further assured the ministry is working assiduously to ensure that everything is put in place before the end of the year.

The gesture was said to have followed the recent collapse of his mosque which claimed four lives and left several others injured.

Sylva announced the donation through a high powered delegation to the Islamic cleric led by the Chairman of Dillaliya Newspapers in Kaduna, Alhaji Ibrahim Gamawa.

A statement issued on Sunday by the Media Assistant to the delegation, Dr. Musa Muhammed, said while receiving the donation, Sheikh Gibrima expressed appreciation to the Minister for his generosity.

The cleric also said that even as a Christian and from the Southern part of the country, Sylva had displayed the spirit of oneness and humanity for other Nigerians to learn from.

He also thanked Sylva for his kindness and goodwill towards humanity without consideration of any sentiment.

Sheikh Gibrima said, “On my behalf and on behalf of other members of our congregation that are affected by the recent collapse of our mosque, I wish to express our gratitude for the cash donation we have received from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resource Timipre Sylva

This is indeed a benchmark set by a Christian who is also from the Southern part of Nigeria for other Nigerians to emulate.

“This singular act of humanity and righteousness is what other Nigerians need at this point where a lot of others have been carried away by the ugly sectional and tribal sentiments.

We shall continue to pray for him and wish him the best in his entire life career. We appreciate this gesture and are very grateful. Only God can reward him.”

Gamawa described the generosity of the politician as a man of conscience that wishes the best for all irrespective of tribe, race or religion.

He said, “The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva is presenting this donation of N5 million to you following the unfortunate incident of the collapse of the mosque that claimed lives and left several others injured.

“He wants me to express his heartfelt condolence for those who lost their lives and pray for a quick recovery for the injured.

“As a man with human feelings, he described the situation as very sad and worthy of such assistance from him.

He therefore wholeheartedly offers this donation to the leader expressing the message of oneness and understanding among our people, Nigerians.”

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Thursday titled, ‘Providers of substandard fuel must be held accountable, directs President Buhari’.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had hinted that the government would look into possible compensation for Nigerians whose automobiles had been damaged by the contaminated fuel.

According to Shehu’s statement on Thursday, the President “has ordered that producers and providers of consumable products be held accountable for substandard services and or products sold by them.

“The President has also given directives to the relevant government agencies to take every step in line with the laws of the country to ensure the respect and protection of consumers against market abuses and social injustices.”

Reacting to the petroleum product shortages linked to the inadvertent supply of products of foreign origin into the Nigerian market, Buhari said the protection of consumer interests is his regime’s priority, and it is, therefore, ready to take all necessary measures to protect consumers from hazardous products, loss or injuries from the consumption of substandard goods.

The President directed that in line with the law, “service providers must make full disclosure of relevant information with respect to the consumption of their products and that dissatisfied consumers are entitled to a proper redress of their complaints.”

In an interview on Channels Television, Sylva disclosed that the government is making efforts to put structures in place to cushion the effect of the eventual subsidy removal.

He said “I cannot give you a date for now. But the Vice President is actually leading the efforts and very soon, we will tell Nigerians what date the removal of subsidy will kick in. We must be considerate of our people; you cannot say because you have the muscle, box everybody down in the room. So, what we are saying is that before doing this, we need to put some structures in place so that the impact on the people can be minimized. We are trying to create an alternative that is cheaper and more affordable. We also think that there should be some palliatives”

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital, at the opening ceremony of the NGEP consultative forum, said that the Federal Government was committed to giving jobs to millions of young Nigerians.

He said, “Counting the impacts of the programme on our socioeconomic space within the first year of its launching, the administration further stepped up its commitment to industrialising Nigeria through gas utilisation by declaring the year 2021 to 2030 ‘Decade of Gas’. With proven gas reserves of over 200 million cubic feet and natural gas presents an opportunity for the nation to use gas as the catalyst for its socio-economic renaissance.”

Sylva said the Nigeria Oil and Gas Park Scheme, when completed, would increase the country’s capacity to produce such needed items in-country, including nuts and bolts, to service the industry.

The minister spoke during an inspection visit to the NOGaPS project site at the Emeyal 1 community in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

He said, “What we are trying to do here is to be able to create opportunities for the manufacturing of some of the parts that are needed in the oil industry. There is no reason why we would be importing everything, including nuts and bolts, from outside Nigeria. So, the NCDMB has brought this opportunity here, to bring companies to operate here to be able to produce those things to service the industry that is around us.”

Sylva said this in an interview on Channels Television, in reaction to the controversy that trailed the approval of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery (an amount which many had described as too much for the project).

The Minister who insisted that the rehabilitation exercise is not a waste of funds added that there are plans to also fix the Warri Refinery and Kaduna Refinery.

He said “Port Harcourt Refinery will work, and certainly within the next 18 months. There are plans to also fix the Warri Refinery and Kaduna Refinery and then we would get all those staffs to work. You see, Nigerians like to bandy figures. I can tell you, that that cannot be true. We are talking with the professionals. Let me tell you how this rehabilitation is going to be funded; it is not going to be all debts, we are not going to borrow all the monies that are going into the rehabilitation (project). Some of the money will come from NNPC’s internally generated revenue – from NPDC, some of it will come from the Federal appropriation, and just a little fraction will come from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).”

Speaking at the University of Ibadan during the opening of the 56th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigeria Mining and Geoscience Society (NMGS), Sylva stated that petrol pricing will be fully deregulated before the end of this year.

He said “We have been talking about deregulation for decades. Unfortunately, we have not succeeded. We have succeeded in deregulating some products. Kerosene has been fully deregulated; diesel has been fully deregulated. But deregulation of PMS (petrol) has continued to elude us. We expect that this year, we will be able to achieve that. But, before we do that, we want to apply the principle of tolling the roads. Before you toll a road, you are expected to give an alternative. So, what we want to do for Nigerians is to give a credible and cheaper fuel as an alternative before we fully deregulate and we believe we will be able to achieve this later this year. And this, of course, is going to be a responsible way of also maintaining our environment.”

The Minister  gave this assurance while addressing newsmen in Lagos on Friday in reaction to reports that the price of PMS, had been increased to N212.61 per litre NAN reports.

“Irrespective of the source of that information, I want to assure you that it is completely untrue.

“Neither Mr President who is the Minister of Petroleum Resources nor myself who deputise for him as minister of state has approved that petrol price should be increased by one naira.

“I, therefore, urge you to disregard this misleading information,” the Minister said.

He explained that the government has been in consultation with organised labour to find the least painful option to respond to the global rise of crude price, which has inevitably led to an increase in petrol prices.

He said it was unthinkable that the government would unilaterally abandon these discussions and act in the manner suggested by the information under reference.

“I will like to equally assure you that the engagement with the organised labour and other stakeholders will continue even as the calculations to arrive at a reasonable price regime are being done; all in good faith and you will be availed of the final outcome at the appropriate time.

“Until then, all marketers are strongly advised to maintain the current pump price of PMS before the emergence of this unfortunate information.

“Those who may want to take advantage of this unfortunate information to extort Nigerians should not give in to such temptations as there are regulatory mechanisms that government can enforce to protect its citizens.

“In conclusion, I want to sincerely apologise to all Nigerians for any distress and inconvenience the unfortunate information might have caused,” he said.