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The failure of companies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to comply with the federal government’s regulation on standard weights and measures has continued to constitute huge sources of revenue losses to the country.
Managing Director of Nigerco, Yusuf Sanni, stated in Abuja that companies whose activities fall within the purview of the standard measurement provisions have continued to defy extant compliance mandates from the government.
Nigerco is an approved consultant to the government’s Department of Weights and Measures in the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry
Yusuf told reporters at an interaction to commemorate the 2013 world meteorology day that the government’s mandate to the Department of Weights and Measures to immediately commence the implementation of the Weight and Measures (Legal Meteorology) Act 2004 in operations within Nigeria’s crude oil production and trading amongst other sectors have not been adhered to by affected companies.
The initiative, which is expected to amongst other things, ensure that sound online legal meteorology infrastructure is administered at strategic positions such as production points, well-heads, gathering facilities and export terminals, and is specifically aimed at checkmating incidences of crude oil theft in the country.
It is also meant to initiate proactive weights and measurements standards across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Yusuf however noted that affected companies have often refused to allow access to its measurement facilities.
He stated that the challenges were envisaged, considering that past government has shown lackadaisical attitudes in enforcing weight and measures standards amongst companies operating in the country.
“We are having strict resistance from users of the equipment, especially those that have taken it for granted, because until now, industries do not believe that government will enforce this, some of them are not even aware, so we are having very stiff resistance, especially from the oil and gas sector upstream,” he said.
He also disclosed plans to register and certify all industries using measurement in the discharge of their operations, adding that the exercise was to ensure economic growth, individual well-being and societal protection.
Yusuf said: “The problem we are having is like in the case of everything new, we always have to battle with compliance, here we are not only asking people to part with their money, you are also asking them to part with their freedom.
“From doing things the way they were doing it before. So, there are two things involved here, complying with the requirements to make sure that the instruments are accurate and pay certain fee to the government.”
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