(Ecofin Agency) - The Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu has said that the country’s oil industry unions, are demanding that the government should not allow oil majors affected by the fall in the prices of oil on the global market to dismiss staff.

“They (unions) are worried about job loss in the sector arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving the rough end of the stick. 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 potential to occur in the sector,” the Minister said.

He said the unions, also opposed any lay off at refineries, which the government is considering selling, adding that they were also asking for the rapid passing of the Petroleum Industry Bill.

Kachikwu stated that the government hopes to end the fuel scarcity affecting most of the countries in West African in two months, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is making efforts to put the country’s nonoperational refineries back online.

“Our strategy is that whatever is produced in the refineries will not go for sale, we are going to keep them in the strategic reserve. The key problem here is that there is no reserve,” he told Reuters.

Anita Fatunji