The Federal Government has promised to work with stakeholders in the oil palm value chain to grow the sub-sector in line with its Industrial Revolution Plan. Mr Olusegun Aganga, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, made the promise at a meeting with the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria in Abuja.
Others associations at the meeting were the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria and Vegetable and Edible Oil Processors Association of Nigeria. Aganga said that the ministry would partner all the stakeholders in the industry to develop holistic and integrated policy that would fast-track the growth of the sector.
“No nation has developed from being a poor to a rich nation by relying heavily on producing and exporting its raw materials without a vibrant and robust industrial base and services sector. Our country is blessed with abundant human and natural resources to become a great nation especially given the ongoing transformation and reforms being carried out by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
“In order to diversify and grow our economy through industrialisation we have already developed and begun the implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan”.
Aganga said the plan had identified strategic areas where Nigeria had comparative advantage such as agri-business. He said that that the NIRP placed high premium in converting raw materials into finished products through value addition.
The minister said the ministry was partnering the manufacturing sector to remove barriers to increased productivity in order to increase the capacity utilisation of the real sector for job and wealth creation.
“We are committed to providing a conducive environment to support the growth and development of the industrial sector.
The meeting with the coalition of stakeholders in the oil palm industry value chain afforded us the opportunity to appraise the problems militating against achieving the full potential of the sector. We are ready to partner all the stakeholders to resolve the issues raised,” he assured.
Mr Fatai Afolabi, the Executive Secretary, Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, had earlier solicited for the assistance of the ministry in industrialising the sector.
Afolabi said that stakeholders in the industry were ready to key into the Industrial Revolution Plan of the Federal Government in order to move the sector forward.
“For the past 20 years, this is the first time for us to get the opportunity of meeting a sitting minister in charge of industry despite all our efforts.
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Monday, 2 September 2013
JTF intensifies war against oil thieves
By Jimitota ONOYUME
OIL theft is not new in the Niger Delta, but its rising index in recent times is constituting serious worries to government, security agencies and other stakeholders in the oil and gas business in the country.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieut. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, met with his top officers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to critically look at how to nip the crime effectively and tackle the problem. Ihejirika told SWEETCRUDE before the meeting that he was in the state to, among other things, discuss with his men on how best they could achieve concrete success in the anti bunkering crusade.
[caption id="attachment_251637" align="alignnone" width="412"]
File Photo: Nigerian Navy[/caption]
The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Mutiu Sunmonu, has consistently lamented the negative impact of oil theft on the nation’s economy. At an interactive session with media in Port Harcourt, he said oil theft was becoming a threat to the nation’s economy.
He said those behind the illicit act, had set up tank farms and other storage facilities for their trade. Some, according to him, had also gone ahead to locally refine the product which they push into markets in the region.
He further expressed worries with the impact of their activities on the environment, saying it was constituting a major pollution problem.
Sunmonu said the federal government had projected an increase in oil production to about four [4] million barrels per day, with a reserve of about 40 billion barrels, wondering how realizable the projection is with the rising cases of crude oil theft in the region.
Shell’s Nembe Creek Trunk line, NCTL, was shut down for about three months this year because oil thieves had punctured about 56 holes on the pipeline from where they siphoned crude into vessels, barges and tank farms for export and local refining.
In its renewed battle to fight the ugly situation to a standstill in the region, the Joint Task Force accompanied Shell’s technical crew on ground trotting exercise along oil pipelines in the high sea. The ground trotting exercise covered the NCTL between San Barth Manifold to Krakrama on the water ways.
The Commanding Officer, 130 Battalion, Lt. Col. Caius Banshe, who led the JTF team, explained that the exercise was to confirm bunkering points on the Nembe Line that had been fixed by the multi-national oil giant. Shell’s surveillance contractors and the technical team were part of the verification exercise.
A Spokesman for Shell, Mr. Joseph Obari, told journalists on the trip that his firm had to engage some locals as surveillance contractors to alert the firm of ruptured points on its pipeline, adding that the company at the end of the day sends its maintenance team to work on the points.
OIL theft is not new in the Niger Delta, but its rising index in recent times is constituting serious worries to government, security agencies and other stakeholders in the oil and gas business in the country.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieut. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, met with his top officers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to critically look at how to nip the crime effectively and tackle the problem. Ihejirika told SWEETCRUDE before the meeting that he was in the state to, among other things, discuss with his men on how best they could achieve concrete success in the anti bunkering crusade.
[caption id="attachment_251637" align="alignnone" width="412"]
File Photo: Nigerian Navy[/caption]The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Mutiu Sunmonu, has consistently lamented the negative impact of oil theft on the nation’s economy. At an interactive session with media in Port Harcourt, he said oil theft was becoming a threat to the nation’s economy.
He said those behind the illicit act, had set up tank farms and other storage facilities for their trade. Some, according to him, had also gone ahead to locally refine the product which they push into markets in the region.
He further expressed worries with the impact of their activities on the environment, saying it was constituting a major pollution problem.
Sunmonu said the federal government had projected an increase in oil production to about four [4] million barrels per day, with a reserve of about 40 billion barrels, wondering how realizable the projection is with the rising cases of crude oil theft in the region.
Shell’s Nembe Creek Trunk line, NCTL, was shut down for about three months this year because oil thieves had punctured about 56 holes on the pipeline from where they siphoned crude into vessels, barges and tank farms for export and local refining.
In its renewed battle to fight the ugly situation to a standstill in the region, the Joint Task Force accompanied Shell’s technical crew on ground trotting exercise along oil pipelines in the high sea. The ground trotting exercise covered the NCTL between San Barth Manifold to Krakrama on the water ways.
The Commanding Officer, 130 Battalion, Lt. Col. Caius Banshe, who led the JTF team, explained that the exercise was to confirm bunkering points on the Nembe Line that had been fixed by the multi-national oil giant. Shell’s surveillance contractors and the technical team were part of the verification exercise.
A Spokesman for Shell, Mr. Joseph Obari, told journalists on the trip that his firm had to engage some locals as surveillance contractors to alert the firm of ruptured points on its pipeline, adding that the company at the end of the day sends its maintenance team to work on the points.
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Incessant pipeline vandalism: Lagos blames negligence on FG
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
LAGOS — Lagos State Government has blamed the Federal Government for its inaction and negligence over incessant cases of oil pipelines vandalism and degradation in the state.
It equally condemned alleged ongoing arrest of innocent residents around Idimu/Ejigbo Local Council Development Areas, LCDA, by Nigeria Civil Defence Corps NCDC, without proper investigation over suspicion that they were responsible for oil pollution of underground wells in the area, saying the residents should be protected rather than being arrested.
Arrest
It would be recalled that NCDC officials last week allegedly invaded Ejigbo and arrested some residents including a pregnant woman, for alleged NNPC pipelines vandalism.
Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello who spoke weekend, noted that while the state government supported every action of the Federal Government to curb stealing of petroleum products and pipeline vandalism in the nation, it, however, frowned at any act that could constitute an infraction on the rights of residents of the affected areas through wanton and unjust arrests by officials of NSCDC.
Bello speaks
According Bello “Lagos State Government expresses serious reservations over indiscriminate arrest of innocent residents around Idimu/Ejigbo areas of the state, without proper investigation over suspicion that they are responsible for oil pollution of underground wells. We recollect that successive administrations in the state has drawn the attention of the Federal Government to concomitant of hazards being experienced by residents of Baruwa-Ipaja, Ilado, Amuwo-Odofin, Ejigbo among others through polluted boreholes, contamination of underground water, ruptured pipelines and seepage of pipelines. Yet, no visible action has regrettably been taken till date by respective agencies of the Federal Government.
Records of official letters
“The state government has records showing that official letters were written by the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000. More importantly, the present administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, equally wrote a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke respectively, complaining about serious oil pollution and high level of degradation that residents of these areas are daily exposed to without any meaningful result coming forth.
“The Lagos State Government in these correspondences did not only complain but also suggested to the Federal Government to consider modern methods of protecting oil pipelines across the nation including casing and tamper proof warning devices among other contemporary methods.”
“A case in point is the Diamond Estate where over 137 boreholes/deep wells are affected by the seepage of petroleum products as a result of pipeline vandalism destroying the source of portable water of inhabitants. Two of the estate’s housing units are now seriously affected while their boreholes have turned into oil wells and without any noticeable remedial action from the NNPC.”
Need to conduct integrity test
The commissioner, urged the NNPC to earnestly conduct an integrity test on its numerous pipelines in the state, as well as provide the Lagos State Government with necessary information that would guide the moderation of planned stakeholders to determine how to prevent future re-occurrence.
Legal action against FG/residents’ petition
While reacting to the petition written by residents, the commissioner argued that the arrest of residents, especially in a democracy, could only be meaningful after a thorough investigation necessary to ascertain the degree of neglect by relevant government agencies have been ascertained. “It would be wrong to punish the people for an offence that they were not responsible for.”
However, the arrested residents claimed that, they have complained severally over the years to NNPC about the pollution of their underground water and ruptured pipelines without any action been taken. They were however taken aback when men of Nigerian Civil Defence Corps invaded their premises and arrested them.
As a matter of fact, one of the arrested residents claimed that, officials of NNPC promised to come over to their residence on Monday before they were arrested over the weekend, by men of Nigerian Civil Defence Corps.
Bello, therefore urged, Community Development Associations CDAs and leaders in the affected communities to institute legal actions against the Federal Government over the exposure of their communities to danger arising from neglect of NNPC to perform its statutory responsibility.
LAGOS — Lagos State Government has blamed the Federal Government for its inaction and negligence over incessant cases of oil pipelines vandalism and degradation in the state.
It equally condemned alleged ongoing arrest of innocent residents around Idimu/Ejigbo Local Council Development Areas, LCDA, by Nigeria Civil Defence Corps NCDC, without proper investigation over suspicion that they were responsible for oil pollution of underground wells in the area, saying the residents should be protected rather than being arrested.
Arrest
It would be recalled that NCDC officials last week allegedly invaded Ejigbo and arrested some residents including a pregnant woman, for alleged NNPC pipelines vandalism.
Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello who spoke weekend, noted that while the state government supported every action of the Federal Government to curb stealing of petroleum products and pipeline vandalism in the nation, it, however, frowned at any act that could constitute an infraction on the rights of residents of the affected areas through wanton and unjust arrests by officials of NSCDC.
Bello speaks
According Bello “Lagos State Government expresses serious reservations over indiscriminate arrest of innocent residents around Idimu/Ejigbo areas of the state, without proper investigation over suspicion that they are responsible for oil pollution of underground wells. We recollect that successive administrations in the state has drawn the attention of the Federal Government to concomitant of hazards being experienced by residents of Baruwa-Ipaja, Ilado, Amuwo-Odofin, Ejigbo among others through polluted boreholes, contamination of underground water, ruptured pipelines and seepage of pipelines. Yet, no visible action has regrettably been taken till date by respective agencies of the Federal Government.
Records of official letters
“The state government has records showing that official letters were written by the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000. More importantly, the present administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, equally wrote a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke respectively, complaining about serious oil pollution and high level of degradation that residents of these areas are daily exposed to without any meaningful result coming forth.
“The Lagos State Government in these correspondences did not only complain but also suggested to the Federal Government to consider modern methods of protecting oil pipelines across the nation including casing and tamper proof warning devices among other contemporary methods.”
“A case in point is the Diamond Estate where over 137 boreholes/deep wells are affected by the seepage of petroleum products as a result of pipeline vandalism destroying the source of portable water of inhabitants. Two of the estate’s housing units are now seriously affected while their boreholes have turned into oil wells and without any noticeable remedial action from the NNPC.”
Need to conduct integrity test
The commissioner, urged the NNPC to earnestly conduct an integrity test on its numerous pipelines in the state, as well as provide the Lagos State Government with necessary information that would guide the moderation of planned stakeholders to determine how to prevent future re-occurrence.
Legal action against FG/residents’ petition
While reacting to the petition written by residents, the commissioner argued that the arrest of residents, especially in a democracy, could only be meaningful after a thorough investigation necessary to ascertain the degree of neglect by relevant government agencies have been ascertained. “It would be wrong to punish the people for an offence that they were not responsible for.”
However, the arrested residents claimed that, they have complained severally over the years to NNPC about the pollution of their underground water and ruptured pipelines without any action been taken. They were however taken aback when men of Nigerian Civil Defence Corps invaded their premises and arrested them.
As a matter of fact, one of the arrested residents claimed that, officials of NNPC promised to come over to their residence on Monday before they were arrested over the weekend, by men of Nigerian Civil Defence Corps.
Bello, therefore urged, Community Development Associations CDAs and leaders in the affected communities to institute legal actions against the Federal Government over the exposure of their communities to danger arising from neglect of NNPC to perform its statutory responsibility.
Oil pollution: Bayelsa govt seeks help from Italy
By VICTORIA OJEME
ABUJA — The government of Bayelsa State has appealed to Italy to assist in remedying the state from environment degradation caused by oil pollution.
The Chief of Staff, Bayelsa House, Abuja, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, made the appeal, when he paid a courtesy call on the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Roberto Colamine.
Chief Ikiogha in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, called on the Italian government to help the state tackle its environmental challenges.
He noted that the peculiar terrain of the state as well as oil pollution, occasioned by oil exploration and vandalisation of oil pipeline, had thrown up enormous environmental challenges to government.
He appealed to the Italian Ambassador to support the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson by providing support to the development of the Niger Delta and the country as a whole.
In his remarks, Ambassador Colamine said the Italian government appreciated the commitment of Bayelsa government in developing the state and its people and assured of its partnership in the area of investment in agriculture and capacity building.
According to him: “Italian firms engaged in the manufacture of improved farm equipment are ready to supply tractors and allied equipment to the state as well as set up a manufacturing plant if the right environment exists.”
The Italian envoy also commended the Bayelsa governor for improving the security of the state, noting that though the Boko Haram crisis was worrisome initially, it had not stopped major economic and commercial activities in other parts of the country.
Italian companies, he revealed, were ready to invest in Nigeria, but needed the right economic environment and legal framework to operate effectively.
ABUJA — The government of Bayelsa State has appealed to Italy to assist in remedying the state from environment degradation caused by oil pollution.
The Chief of Staff, Bayelsa House, Abuja, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, made the appeal, when he paid a courtesy call on the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Roberto Colamine.
Chief Ikiogha in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, called on the Italian government to help the state tackle its environmental challenges.
He noted that the peculiar terrain of the state as well as oil pollution, occasioned by oil exploration and vandalisation of oil pipeline, had thrown up enormous environmental challenges to government.
He appealed to the Italian Ambassador to support the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson by providing support to the development of the Niger Delta and the country as a whole.
In his remarks, Ambassador Colamine said the Italian government appreciated the commitment of Bayelsa government in developing the state and its people and assured of its partnership in the area of investment in agriculture and capacity building.
According to him: “Italian firms engaged in the manufacture of improved farm equipment are ready to supply tractors and allied equipment to the state as well as set up a manufacturing plant if the right environment exists.”
The Italian envoy also commended the Bayelsa governor for improving the security of the state, noting that though the Boko Haram crisis was worrisome initially, it had not stopped major economic and commercial activities in other parts of the country.
Italian companies, he revealed, were ready to invest in Nigeria, but needed the right economic environment and legal framework to operate effectively.
Saturday, 31 August 2013
CRUDE OIL THEFT (2) The conspiracy that robs Nigeria of billions of dollars
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South,Sam Oyadongha, Yenagoa & Jimitota Onoyume, Port Harcourt
How barons, military personnel, govt officials, IOC’s bleed the nation
The fear over 2013 revenue target
This is the concluding part of the investigative story on how members of a powerful cabal continue to conspire, robbing in the process, Nigerians of billions of dollars. It is very revealing but also represents a narrative on how mis-governance inspired by greed makes a mockery of the nation.
Production projections
NNPC said after repair works on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which has a daily capacity of 150,000 bpd, “daily average crude oil production is expected to increase to 2.50 m/bpd which will exceed the national daily target of 2.48 m/bpd.”
It added, “Our expectation is to increase production from the 2.48 to 2.55 m/bpd (both crude and condensate) for the rest of the year. We have the capacity and potential to maintain production above 2.55 m/bpd in the country.
“All that is required is to continue the fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft to achieve this target. This will increase our 2013 average production to about 2.34 m/bpd if the current fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft is sustained.”
But who is winning the war?
Tackling pipeline vandalism is really the important aspect, but the truth is that there is nothing on ground now to show that the country is winning the war against oil thieves, especially the cartel. Except for the exploits of soldiers of the Joint Taskforce, JTF, who are doing their best in the difficult terrain, where they battle regularly with armed vandals, the oil pipelines are still at the mercy of thieves and their big-time sponsors.
Speaking on whether the nation was winning the battle against oil theft, Kuku, the PAP boss, said though the Federal Government had made tremendous progress, it still needed the cooperation of the international community to win the war.
His words “I want to say that the Federal Government has taken very great steps in dealing with the issues of oil theft. It’s not going to be won in a single day. It is a very specialised and mechanised crime issue. It’s not a crime committed ordinarily by poor people; it’s a crime committed by an organised people, but it is a matter of demand and supply. It’s an international crime and government is taking steps, like I said, even to the U.K, to South Africa and the U.S., and has urged them to participate in dealing with it as an international crime.” He explained that without international buyers, there would be no local suppliers and this would consequently lead to a decline in oil theft because the business will no longer be lucrative.
Bayelsa as theater of war
In Bayelsa State, which is a theater of war between oil thieves and soldiers, the level of oil theft is alarming and of grave concern to stakeholders – mind you, that is the state of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Petroleum Resources Minister, Deziani Allison-Madueke.
[caption id="attachment_411706" align="alignnone" width="412"]
*Oil Vandals[/caption]
Investigations showed that in spite of the clamp down on illegal refineries in the vast mangrove swamp of the state by special security forces, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, the perpetrators of the illicit trade are not relenting. The situation on ground in the creeks of the state is very different from the respite many had anticipated when the Federal Government granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants, who were outraged against the Nigerian state over what they described as the glaring marginalisation of the region and environmental injustice.
At the peak of the campaign that almost crippled crude oil production, the Federal Government was forced to extend olive branch to the creek ‘Generals’ with a view to creating unfettered flow of crude oil. The creek ‘Generals’ were also awarded juicy surveillance contracts to secure crude oil pipelines. One of the ex-militant leaders, Ebikabowei Victor Ben, alias Boyloaf, said to be in-charge of the Bayelsa axis, could not be reached by Sunday Vanguard for comments on the situation of things in his area.
However, during a trip to Southern Ijaw area, which is the den of oil thieves in Bayelsa, Sunday Vanguard discovered that the JTF had destroyed thousands of illegal refineries and impounded hundreds of vessels and equipment used in siphoning crude from oil facilities that crisscross the region. The Brass-Akassa corridor on the Atlantic fringe of the state is regarded as the black spot for illegal bunkering in the central Delta. Alarmingly though, the ease with which more camps spring up and the manner oil thieves tap into the pipelines in the deep mangrove swamp to get raw crude for their illicit business, has left many puzzled.
Surprisingly, the natives, who, at a time, were outraged against the oil majors over alleged environmental injustice and neglect, are the ones now decimating their already fragile ecosystem with impunity.
Both the young and old are involved in this business. Without the active connivance of the natives, a source said, the oil barons would not have gotten easy access to the communities.
Sadly, even children have abandoned school to join their parents in refining stolen crude, oblivious of the danger to their health and future.
A source told Sunday Vanguard that there was an abandoned oil well on the Brass Island on the Atlantic fringe, where barges illegally load crude oil and transfer to a mother vessel waiting on the high sea. Ironically, the very river most of these communities depend on for drinking water is what the illegal refinery operators pollute. Some of them were seen pumping the excess of their consignment into the river in broad daylight.
Only about 30 per cent of the refined oil, according to experts, is recovered, while the remaining 70 per cent is discarded into the environment.
“This, to a large extent, is responsible for the repulsive stench on the river and thick smoke in the air reducing visibility in the snaky creek and exposing boat drivers to the danger of collision,” a community leader asserted.
“The fact that electricity supply from the national grid to the communities is not reliable has made diesel and petrol-powered generators the main form of power supply across the Delta.
“It has also made illegal refining a lucrative business for the unemployed youths, who are not aware of the long term effect on the environment and the health of their people”.
Field day in Rivers
In Rivers State, where the leader of the Niger-Delta People Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Ateke Tom, Farah Dagogoh and Ebripapa are in charge, oil thieves are also having a field day.
Sunday Vanguard joined the JTF on a ground trotting exercise, weeks ago, on the waterways of the state. The impact of oil spill from oil theft was mind-boggling.
There were traces of crude on the river, in spite of the efforts to fix some of the points ruptured by oil thieves on the Nembe Truck Line, between San Barth Manifold and Krakrama on the waterways. About seven boats conveying soldiers, journalists, Shell staff, surveillance contractors and the technical team went for the verification exercise.
Spokesperson of Shell, Mr. Joseph Obari, explained that his firm had to engage some locals as surveillance contractors to alert on ruptured points on its pipelines. The company would later send its maintenance team to work on the points.
Journalists, soldiers escape death
Just when the team was minutes close to the Krakrama manifold, which was the last point to verify the work done by the maintenance team of Shell, the boat conveying some journalists and soldiers suddenly capsized. They were rescued.
In a chat later, Commanding Officer, 130 Battalion, Lt Col Banshe, told the journalists on the team that security agencies would not relent in their war against illegal bunkering in the state.
He said those into this illicit trade were in the creeks, stressing that security agencies had started smoking them out. He pointed at a flyboat on the jetty in Abonnema seized by his men during a patrol.
The Commanding Officer said the repair works carried out by Shell on the ruptured pipeline would boost their patrol of the waterways.
No retreat, no surrender in Delta
In Delta State, Sunday Vanguard gathered that OFSL, chaired by Tompolo, gave oil thieves the battle of their lives for the one year the contract to the company to police oil pipelines in the state lasted.
Tompolo is supported by the chair of Delta Waterways Security Committee and Itsekiri youth leader, Chief Ayiri Emami; a former chair of Warri North Local Government Area, Mr. Michael Diden, Chief Dennis Otuaro, and Barrister P.K. Seimode, both members of DWSC; who are all board members of the company.
However, since February 2012 when the contract to the company expired, the NNPC has not renewed it, leaving the monitoring of oil pipelines in the state strictly in the hands of JTF and navy. Oil thieves are said to be very much in the business despite the forays made by security agents.
A concerned stakeholder, however, told Sunday Vanguard, “Security agents have illegal oil refinery operators working for them. They are in the business together. I am aware that even some Cotonou boats and boats seized from oil thieves by OFSL operatives were handed over to their owners by some unscrupulous security officials.
“The biggest problem in Nigeria is not using a metering process to monitor what is produced like it is done in other oil-producing countries. The oil stolen by illegal oil refiners is nothing compared to what is stolen by the cartel of government officials, security agents and oil companies.
“If crude thieves operating illegal oil refineries steal crude oil filled in a Cotonou boat for instance, it will take them three to four months to refine it and, after production, they will start selling it. Now, what is what they are stealing compared to the eight vessels that get missing out of the 10 that is loaded in the terminal?”
‘JTF on top of situation’
Media Coordinator of JTF in the Niger Delta, Lt. Col. Onyeama Nwachukwu, was, however, categorical that the security outfit was winning the war against oil thieves. He said over 608 suspected oil thieves were seized in 594 raids carried out between January and June.According to him, oil theft was on the decline in the region. His words, “So far, we have carried out 594 illegal oil bunkering patrols, and several arrests have been made. In the two quarters we are talking about, we have scuttled about 748 illegal refineries within the region and we have impounded 24 sea-going vessels; we equally arrested 133 barges involved in oil theft. And 861 giant open wooden boats, popularly referred to as Cotonou boats, have been scuttled over this period.
“About 910 large surface tanks, which oil thieves engaged in illegal refineries used to reserve the crude have been scuttled. We have taken into custody about 608 suspects who are involved in oil theft and oil theft related cases.”
On the rate of oil theft, which reportedly led to a combined shut-in of 190,000 barrels per day production in Bayelsa, Nwachukwu said that the JTF was making a positive impact.The spokesman said: “Of course, we stepped up our operational activities and I can assure you that oil theft now is going down”.
A hoax
While many people agree that JTF has performed, the general allegation is that oil companies are raising the alarm to defraud Nigerians.
Coordinator of the Ijaw People Development Initiative, Ozobo, stated, “Oil companies are not sincere about their reports on the actual degree of loss of the country’s oil revenue. They are over- blowing the whole situation to make more profits and pay lesser tax and returns to the Federal Government.
‘’It is also true that the oil companies are running illegal oil wells and under-estimating the number of barrels produced per-day, which the government does not know about. This is sad and barbaric.
‘’The attitude of the oil companies is worse than the known oil thieves we are shouting about. Only a few of the oil wells and oil barrels produced per day by the oil companies are reported. I tell you, there are many oil wells and barrels produced that are not known by the Federal Government.”
Way out
Noticeably panicky, the Federal Government recently beseeched the international community not to buy stolen crude from the country. But ex-militant leader, Tompolo, who spoke through the Secretary of Tompolo Foundation, Mr. Paul Bebenimibo, said, “That is not the solution. Government can effectively check illegal crude oil activities by renewing the surveillance oil facilities contracts in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers States, as well as expanding the job to other oil bearing states. Performance could be measured by regular meetings with stakeholders and the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, must wake up and live up to expectation.”
IPDI coordinator, Ozobo suggested, “The Federal Government should launch a probe into the internally computed fraudulent reports of the oil multinational companies to ascertain actual loss of oil revenue in the country.”
He added that government should also investigate daily activities of oil companies and number of oil wells under their operations because they are always armed with misleading audited reports.
“Clearly, we have to develop a modern technology to always check the activities of the oil companies”, he said
Many people think the task of policing the pipelines should not be a matter for the security forces alone, since they do not have the workforce to place men at every kilometer.
They advised the oil majors to improve on their surveillance technology so that any breach on their facility would trigger an alarm to deter vandals and alert the security forces.
Some people contended that the crusade against crude oil theft and illegal refining cannot be achieved by the use of brute force, and stressed the need for government to address the obvious contradiction of people in the oil producing communities lacking in the midst of plenty. Community leaders said the people should be carried along in the campaign to stamp out the menace, while some youths groups counseled that dialogue should not be a one-sided affair of placating the ex- militant leaders by way of pipeline surveillance job.
Some activists, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said government should legalize illegal refineries, adding that they should be made to pay tax to government at the end of the day.
“We should be allowed to use our God-given wealth which is oil and our God-given talent, which is ability to refine crude for the benefit of our country. We should be made to pay tax at the end of the day”, one of the former agitators stated.
A top security source who also spoke anonymously said government should set up a special court to try those arrested for crude oil theft. He said conventional courts were slowing the effort of security operatives in the region.
The security source said lawyers file motions of different sorts at conventional courts to secure freedom for those arrested for oil theft.
How barons, military personnel, govt officials, IOC’s bleed the nation
The fear over 2013 revenue target
This is the concluding part of the investigative story on how members of a powerful cabal continue to conspire, robbing in the process, Nigerians of billions of dollars. It is very revealing but also represents a narrative on how mis-governance inspired by greed makes a mockery of the nation.
Production projections
NNPC said after repair works on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which has a daily capacity of 150,000 bpd, “daily average crude oil production is expected to increase to 2.50 m/bpd which will exceed the national daily target of 2.48 m/bpd.”
It added, “Our expectation is to increase production from the 2.48 to 2.55 m/bpd (both crude and condensate) for the rest of the year. We have the capacity and potential to maintain production above 2.55 m/bpd in the country.
“All that is required is to continue the fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft to achieve this target. This will increase our 2013 average production to about 2.34 m/bpd if the current fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft is sustained.”
But who is winning the war?
Tackling pipeline vandalism is really the important aspect, but the truth is that there is nothing on ground now to show that the country is winning the war against oil thieves, especially the cartel. Except for the exploits of soldiers of the Joint Taskforce, JTF, who are doing their best in the difficult terrain, where they battle regularly with armed vandals, the oil pipelines are still at the mercy of thieves and their big-time sponsors.
Speaking on whether the nation was winning the battle against oil theft, Kuku, the PAP boss, said though the Federal Government had made tremendous progress, it still needed the cooperation of the international community to win the war.
His words “I want to say that the Federal Government has taken very great steps in dealing with the issues of oil theft. It’s not going to be won in a single day. It is a very specialised and mechanised crime issue. It’s not a crime committed ordinarily by poor people; it’s a crime committed by an organised people, but it is a matter of demand and supply. It’s an international crime and government is taking steps, like I said, even to the U.K, to South Africa and the U.S., and has urged them to participate in dealing with it as an international crime.” He explained that without international buyers, there would be no local suppliers and this would consequently lead to a decline in oil theft because the business will no longer be lucrative.
Bayelsa as theater of war
In Bayelsa State, which is a theater of war between oil thieves and soldiers, the level of oil theft is alarming and of grave concern to stakeholders – mind you, that is the state of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Petroleum Resources Minister, Deziani Allison-Madueke.
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*Oil Vandals[/caption]Investigations showed that in spite of the clamp down on illegal refineries in the vast mangrove swamp of the state by special security forces, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, the perpetrators of the illicit trade are not relenting. The situation on ground in the creeks of the state is very different from the respite many had anticipated when the Federal Government granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants, who were outraged against the Nigerian state over what they described as the glaring marginalisation of the region and environmental injustice.
At the peak of the campaign that almost crippled crude oil production, the Federal Government was forced to extend olive branch to the creek ‘Generals’ with a view to creating unfettered flow of crude oil. The creek ‘Generals’ were also awarded juicy surveillance contracts to secure crude oil pipelines. One of the ex-militant leaders, Ebikabowei Victor Ben, alias Boyloaf, said to be in-charge of the Bayelsa axis, could not be reached by Sunday Vanguard for comments on the situation of things in his area.
However, during a trip to Southern Ijaw area, which is the den of oil thieves in Bayelsa, Sunday Vanguard discovered that the JTF had destroyed thousands of illegal refineries and impounded hundreds of vessels and equipment used in siphoning crude from oil facilities that crisscross the region. The Brass-Akassa corridor on the Atlantic fringe of the state is regarded as the black spot for illegal bunkering in the central Delta. Alarmingly though, the ease with which more camps spring up and the manner oil thieves tap into the pipelines in the deep mangrove swamp to get raw crude for their illicit business, has left many puzzled.
Surprisingly, the natives, who, at a time, were outraged against the oil majors over alleged environmental injustice and neglect, are the ones now decimating their already fragile ecosystem with impunity.
Both the young and old are involved in this business. Without the active connivance of the natives, a source said, the oil barons would not have gotten easy access to the communities.
Sadly, even children have abandoned school to join their parents in refining stolen crude, oblivious of the danger to their health and future.
A source told Sunday Vanguard that there was an abandoned oil well on the Brass Island on the Atlantic fringe, where barges illegally load crude oil and transfer to a mother vessel waiting on the high sea. Ironically, the very river most of these communities depend on for drinking water is what the illegal refinery operators pollute. Some of them were seen pumping the excess of their consignment into the river in broad daylight.
Only about 30 per cent of the refined oil, according to experts, is recovered, while the remaining 70 per cent is discarded into the environment.
“This, to a large extent, is responsible for the repulsive stench on the river and thick smoke in the air reducing visibility in the snaky creek and exposing boat drivers to the danger of collision,” a community leader asserted.
“The fact that electricity supply from the national grid to the communities is not reliable has made diesel and petrol-powered generators the main form of power supply across the Delta.
“It has also made illegal refining a lucrative business for the unemployed youths, who are not aware of the long term effect on the environment and the health of their people”.
Field day in Rivers
In Rivers State, where the leader of the Niger-Delta People Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Ateke Tom, Farah Dagogoh and Ebripapa are in charge, oil thieves are also having a field day.
Sunday Vanguard joined the JTF on a ground trotting exercise, weeks ago, on the waterways of the state. The impact of oil spill from oil theft was mind-boggling.
There were traces of crude on the river, in spite of the efforts to fix some of the points ruptured by oil thieves on the Nembe Truck Line, between San Barth Manifold and Krakrama on the waterways. About seven boats conveying soldiers, journalists, Shell staff, surveillance contractors and the technical team went for the verification exercise.
Spokesperson of Shell, Mr. Joseph Obari, explained that his firm had to engage some locals as surveillance contractors to alert on ruptured points on its pipelines. The company would later send its maintenance team to work on the points.
Journalists, soldiers escape death
Just when the team was minutes close to the Krakrama manifold, which was the last point to verify the work done by the maintenance team of Shell, the boat conveying some journalists and soldiers suddenly capsized. They were rescued.
In a chat later, Commanding Officer, 130 Battalion, Lt Col Banshe, told the journalists on the team that security agencies would not relent in their war against illegal bunkering in the state.
He said those into this illicit trade were in the creeks, stressing that security agencies had started smoking them out. He pointed at a flyboat on the jetty in Abonnema seized by his men during a patrol.
The Commanding Officer said the repair works carried out by Shell on the ruptured pipeline would boost their patrol of the waterways.
No retreat, no surrender in Delta
In Delta State, Sunday Vanguard gathered that OFSL, chaired by Tompolo, gave oil thieves the battle of their lives for the one year the contract to the company to police oil pipelines in the state lasted.
Tompolo is supported by the chair of Delta Waterways Security Committee and Itsekiri youth leader, Chief Ayiri Emami; a former chair of Warri North Local Government Area, Mr. Michael Diden, Chief Dennis Otuaro, and Barrister P.K. Seimode, both members of DWSC; who are all board members of the company.
However, since February 2012 when the contract to the company expired, the NNPC has not renewed it, leaving the monitoring of oil pipelines in the state strictly in the hands of JTF and navy. Oil thieves are said to be very much in the business despite the forays made by security agents.
A concerned stakeholder, however, told Sunday Vanguard, “Security agents have illegal oil refinery operators working for them. They are in the business together. I am aware that even some Cotonou boats and boats seized from oil thieves by OFSL operatives were handed over to their owners by some unscrupulous security officials.
“The biggest problem in Nigeria is not using a metering process to monitor what is produced like it is done in other oil-producing countries. The oil stolen by illegal oil refiners is nothing compared to what is stolen by the cartel of government officials, security agents and oil companies.
“If crude thieves operating illegal oil refineries steal crude oil filled in a Cotonou boat for instance, it will take them three to four months to refine it and, after production, they will start selling it. Now, what is what they are stealing compared to the eight vessels that get missing out of the 10 that is loaded in the terminal?”
‘JTF on top of situation’
Media Coordinator of JTF in the Niger Delta, Lt. Col. Onyeama Nwachukwu, was, however, categorical that the security outfit was winning the war against oil thieves. He said over 608 suspected oil thieves were seized in 594 raids carried out between January and June.According to him, oil theft was on the decline in the region. His words, “So far, we have carried out 594 illegal oil bunkering patrols, and several arrests have been made. In the two quarters we are talking about, we have scuttled about 748 illegal refineries within the region and we have impounded 24 sea-going vessels; we equally arrested 133 barges involved in oil theft. And 861 giant open wooden boats, popularly referred to as Cotonou boats, have been scuttled over this period.
“About 910 large surface tanks, which oil thieves engaged in illegal refineries used to reserve the crude have been scuttled. We have taken into custody about 608 suspects who are involved in oil theft and oil theft related cases.”
On the rate of oil theft, which reportedly led to a combined shut-in of 190,000 barrels per day production in Bayelsa, Nwachukwu said that the JTF was making a positive impact.The spokesman said: “Of course, we stepped up our operational activities and I can assure you that oil theft now is going down”.
A hoax
While many people agree that JTF has performed, the general allegation is that oil companies are raising the alarm to defraud Nigerians.
Coordinator of the Ijaw People Development Initiative, Ozobo, stated, “Oil companies are not sincere about their reports on the actual degree of loss of the country’s oil revenue. They are over- blowing the whole situation to make more profits and pay lesser tax and returns to the Federal Government.
‘’It is also true that the oil companies are running illegal oil wells and under-estimating the number of barrels produced per-day, which the government does not know about. This is sad and barbaric.
‘’The attitude of the oil companies is worse than the known oil thieves we are shouting about. Only a few of the oil wells and oil barrels produced per day by the oil companies are reported. I tell you, there are many oil wells and barrels produced that are not known by the Federal Government.”
Way out
Noticeably panicky, the Federal Government recently beseeched the international community not to buy stolen crude from the country. But ex-militant leader, Tompolo, who spoke through the Secretary of Tompolo Foundation, Mr. Paul Bebenimibo, said, “That is not the solution. Government can effectively check illegal crude oil activities by renewing the surveillance oil facilities contracts in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers States, as well as expanding the job to other oil bearing states. Performance could be measured by regular meetings with stakeholders and the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, must wake up and live up to expectation.”
IPDI coordinator, Ozobo suggested, “The Federal Government should launch a probe into the internally computed fraudulent reports of the oil multinational companies to ascertain actual loss of oil revenue in the country.”
He added that government should also investigate daily activities of oil companies and number of oil wells under their operations because they are always armed with misleading audited reports.
“Clearly, we have to develop a modern technology to always check the activities of the oil companies”, he said
Many people think the task of policing the pipelines should not be a matter for the security forces alone, since they do not have the workforce to place men at every kilometer.
They advised the oil majors to improve on their surveillance technology so that any breach on their facility would trigger an alarm to deter vandals and alert the security forces.
Some people contended that the crusade against crude oil theft and illegal refining cannot be achieved by the use of brute force, and stressed the need for government to address the obvious contradiction of people in the oil producing communities lacking in the midst of plenty. Community leaders said the people should be carried along in the campaign to stamp out the menace, while some youths groups counseled that dialogue should not be a one-sided affair of placating the ex- militant leaders by way of pipeline surveillance job.
Some activists, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said government should legalize illegal refineries, adding that they should be made to pay tax to government at the end of the day.
“We should be allowed to use our God-given wealth which is oil and our God-given talent, which is ability to refine crude for the benefit of our country. We should be made to pay tax at the end of the day”, one of the former agitators stated.
A top security source who also spoke anonymously said government should set up a special court to try those arrested for crude oil theft. He said conventional courts were slowing the effort of security operatives in the region.
The security source said lawyers file motions of different sorts at conventional courts to secure freedom for those arrested for oil theft.
Pastor, 2 teenagers, 27 others arrested for pipeline vandalism
By Olasunkanmi Akoni and Monsur Olowoopejo
No fewer than 30 suspected oil pipeline vandals were, yesterday, arrested by the officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, in Isheri-Oshun axis of Ogun-Lagos states border. This came a week after the NSCDC, Lagos command arrested eight suspected vandals in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA.
Among the suspects were two teenagers, identified as Micheal Oyedotun and Azeez Ajani, who both claimed to be apprentices at different fashion institutes, and a Pastor over illegal possession of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the suspects: were arrested at about 3:00 am after a gun battle between the vandals and the officers of the NSCDC. It was also learnt that two vehicles owned by the suspected vandals were impounded while over 20, 000 liters of fuel in drums were recovered.
No fewer than 30 suspected oil pipeline vandals were, yesterday, arrested by the officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, in Isheri-Oshun axis of Ogun-Lagos states border. This came a week after the NSCDC, Lagos command arrested eight suspected vandals in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA.
Among the suspects were two teenagers, identified as Micheal Oyedotun and Azeez Ajani, who both claimed to be apprentices at different fashion institutes, and a Pastor over illegal possession of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the suspects: were arrested at about 3:00 am after a gun battle between the vandals and the officers of the NSCDC. It was also learnt that two vehicles owned by the suspected vandals were impounded while over 20, 000 liters of fuel in drums were recovered.
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