…Mulls Stronger Laws Against Crude Oil Theft, Vandalism
On Tuesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company won the National Assembly’s support in its fight to ramp up crude oil production to two million barrels per day.
The NNPCL has vowed to push the nation’s production level which currently stands at about 1.4 million barrels per day to two million barrels per day in no distant future.
The National Assembly which expressed concern at the state of affairs in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry, said, it will support efforts of the company aimed at boosting Nigeria’s crude oil production and growing its reserves, adding that it will consider stiffer consequences for crude oil thieves and vandals of the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.
National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) was on an oversight visit of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), an upstream arm of the NNPC Ltd, at its Lagos headquarters on Tuesday.
Jointly led by the Committee Chairmen from both chambers, Senator Eteng Jonah Williams and Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the legislators described the menace of crude oil theft and vandalism of critical oil and gas infrastructure as major challenges to Nigeria’s revenue generation and budget targets, which must be curtailed.
In his remarks, Senator Williams said the National Assembly needed to develop legislative action to help stop crude oil theft and increase Nigeria’s crude oil production.
He said from what they found at NUIMS, it is duty-bound on the legislature to come up with decisive measures that will help the government to achieve its set targets in the oil and gas sector.
On his part, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa said by their duties as a legislature, the lawmakers will fast-track the strengthening of a legislative framework to be able to check the excesses bedeviling the nation’s oil and gas sector.
Doguwa, who commended NNPC Ltd’s efforts for its industry-wide security collaboration against the nation’s hydrocarbon infrastructure said more needs to be done to ensure the Company increases Nigeria’s crude oil production and grows its reserves.
He said the legislature will consider deploying the stick-and-carrot approach towards addressing the issue, but where it becomes necessary, the stick approach must be emphasised to rise vehemently against any encumbrance standing in the way of Nigeria’s economic growth and development.
Earlier in his detailed presentation to the lawmakers, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer (CUIO) of NNPC Ltd, Mr. Bala Wunti described NUIMS as a trustee of Nigeria’s upstream investments which ensures the country maximises returns through effective supervision of its Joint Venture (JV), Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) and Service Contracts (SC) operating partners.
Wunti, who commended the lawmakers for their consistent support to the NNPC Ltd, said engagements with the National Assembly are crucial as they will help the NNPC Ltd in the attainment of its mandate.
“We are here to see how the NASS will help us produce more barrels and deliver value to our shareholders. Increasing production is the new narrative and your support is needed to enable us achieve our set targets based on our key principles of safety, speed, compliance and efficiency,” Wunti informed the legislators.
He said so far, the industry-wide security collaboration against crude oil theft and vandalism of Nigeria’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure through the four-way strategy of “Detect, Deter, Respond and Recover” has been instrumental in the recent restoration of some of the nation’s lost barrels.
