By Abdul lawal
Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Chief Timipre Sylva has stated
that about 265 illegal refineries exist in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Operation areas alone as Nigeria continues to battle with crude oil theft in the oil producing Niger Delta región.
Sylva revealed this at the 60th Anniversary of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Thursday in Lagos.
He was represented by Mr Kamaru Busari, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, said vandalism and oil theft had resulted in Nigeria producing less than one million barrels of crude oil per day.
Energy focus reports that Sylva said the country’s inability to meet its Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota had deprived it of the much needed oil revenue when oil prices were very high in the international market.
He stated that despite this challenges the government was engaging host communities, security agencies and deploying technology to address the issue in order to boost investors’ confidence in the sector.
DailyNewscraft.ng reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recently awarded crude pipelines Survellance contract worth N4bn monthly to an indigeneous security Firm to police the oil pipelines in the Niger Delta región.
On his part, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari said the company was not unmindful of the current challenges, particularly security in the operational areas and cash call arrears settlement.
Kyari, represented by Mr Dapo Segun, Deputy General Manager, Treasury, NNPCL, however, maintained that the company was resilient and would work with other stakeholders to overcome the security challenges.
He said: “We have deployed creative solutions to tackle security challenges in the operational areas.
“Technological intervention for both monitoring and prompt intervention would also be set up. The tackling of the menace is a top priority for NNPCL.
“Also, our new governance framework provides us autonomy and opportunity for self-accounting hence cash-call settlement including arrears would be settled and handled promptly going forward.”
Earlier in his address of welcome, Mr Rick Kennedy, Chairman OPTS, said OPTS had made significant contributions to the development of the Nigerian oil and gas industry over the past 60 years.
Kennedy, represented by Mr. Osagie Okunbor, Vice Chairman, OPTS, said
OPTS members had demonstrated resilience and commitment in the face of economic, security, environmental and funding challenges.
He said: “We have continued to make significant contributions to Nigeria’s development.
“As a group, OPTS member companies account about 90 per cent of Nigeria oil production and contributes significantly to the domestic and export gas production and supply.
“Over the last decade, OPTS member companies accounted for 40-60 per cent of government revenue and 85 to 95 per cent of export earnings.
“OPTS member companies are also proud to have paid tens of billions of dollars in taxes, levies, royalties, rents, and license fees to the Nigerian government.”
Kennedy, who is also the Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria/Mid-Africa Business Unit, said the OPTS companies had also created over 600,000 direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.
Also, Mr Bunmi Toyobo, Executive Director, OPTS, thanked the 29 companies who were members of the OPTS for their contributions to its achievements in the past 60 years.
“This celebration is to demonstrate our abiding faith in Nigeria as a group and belief in the boundless growth potential of our country, given the enabling environment,” he said.