The Petroleum Product Pricing Regulating Agency (PPPRA) at the weekend declared that it was set to pay claims of N10 billion to petroleum marketers, “after necessary approvals have been obtained.”

The agency stated this in a statement by its executive secretary, Abiodun Ibikunle.

Out of the outstanding N46 billion, the statement added, marketers have already been reimbursed the sum of N14 billion, while claims of about N10 billion have been audited in line with due process.

This N10 billion claim, the statement continued, “will be paid to the marketers after necessary approvals have been obtained.”

Oil marketers, comprising the Majors and independent oil marketing firms, independent petroleum products importers and depot owners had under the claimed that the PPPRA was indebted to them to the tune of N70 billion.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has in line with this stated that the inability of the Federal Government and her agencies to immediately meet their obligations to their creditors would soon create artificial fuel crises across the 36 states of the federation

PENGASSAN also claimed that the changes in management process by the Government in the upstream sector from JVO to IJV posses a great danger to the nation’s economy

President of the union, Babatunde Oguns who noted this while briefing newsmen declared that a major fuel scarcity looms if Government and her agencies did not pay the marketers now.

The Government and her agencies, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), NNPC, PEF, he said, “should immediately meet their obligations to their creditors by paying all the marketers their outstanding debts to enable them meet their bank obligations and in-turn stop, bank executives from profiteering on shareholders’ money through non-performing loan syndrome”

The labour leaders called on Government to save the nation from going into extinction. While there are no new jobs created, Government is killing the existing ones, for lack of her planning and inability to meet up with responsibilities and commitments to investors they have business transactions.

“We are loosing members to redundancy day in day out because the companies are folding up, the economic downtown effects on our economy are grounding the entire industry and our government lacks the wherewithal to tackle this menace as it is done in other proactive and serious nations”.

“We are afraid of the total collapse of the downstream sector and fear is griping the upstream too, because of government’s insincerity in changing her policies, plans and implementation processes. The ‘management of change’ processes in the upstream sector from JVO to IJV posses a great danger” he said.

“Government must meet her financial obligations to all IOC and funding of new projects especially Gas project if we must meet the energy requirement of this nation”, he added Maintaining that the jail of bank directors is not enough excuse to delay the payment of marketers, Oguns called on the Government to pay the debts owned the marketers to save petroleum industries from total collapse.

He however said Government must meet its obligations to workers who had been paying religiously to NHS since while Government has refused to make life easier by several bottlenecks to ensure workers are disenfranchised and pauperised to live without Houses.

$180 bn Scam: Why Court Delays Decision On ENI, Saipem Nigeria Deals More facts emerged at the weekend on the reason an Italian judge put back a decision on a request by Milan prosecutors to bar Italian energy group Eni and its subsidiary Saipem SpA from conducting business with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Milan probe is linked to an international investigation into alleged bribes of $180 million paid by the TSKJ consortium in the period 1994-2004 to obtain contracts worth more than $6 billion to build Nigerian LNG facilities and Eni's lawyer, Paola Severino disclosed that the court did not take any decision at the first hearing.

"There was no decision because the prosecutor's office has presented documents from an American investigation in a (foreign) language which should be translated," Eni's lawyer Paola Severino told reporters after the hearing.

"Because of this the judge has postponed the hearing to Oct 21," she said.

The expected ruling is part of a probe by Milan prosecutors into bribery allegations related to construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Nigeria .

Lawyers for Eni and oilfield services group Saipem and prosecutors presented their positions to the judge on Monday.

Eni and Saipem can appeal a ban which would be immediately effective and would prevent the two firms from signing contracts with NNPC and its subsidiaries, judicial sources have said.

The Milan prosecutors are looking to see if Eni and Saipem had proper procedures in place to prevent the "offences involving international corruption charged to two former managers of (Saipem's) Snamprogetti," Eni said in notes in the company's half-year statements published in August.

The Italian oil company reiterated in the notes it was cooperating with the competent authorities.

Oilfield service unit Snamprogetti, an Eni unit now controlled by Saipem, was part of the TSKJ group along with France 's Technip SA and Japan 's JGC Corp.

The consortium was headed by former Halliburton Co unit KBR, which pleaded guilty in February to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials to secure four contracts to build and expand Nigeria 's Bonny Island LNG terminal.