BY RITA OYIBOKA
Delta State Government has announced 80 per cent success in its efforts to curb pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in the state.
This was disclosed, by the State’s Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Hon. (Chief) Peter Uviejitobor, during an exclusive interview with The Pointer Newspaper correspondents at his office in Asaba.
To achieve this feat, the Commissioner said, a Special Task Force was inaugurated after visits to all security agencies in the state, to seek their collaboration for the protection of oil and gas facilities against vandalism and theft, and also to ensure that the state boosts its oil production to surpass the quota fixed by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
With these measures in place, the government inaugurated a Task Force to monitor facilities, in synergy with security agencies, for the purpose of boosting oil production and revenue generation.
The operations of the Task Force has been largely successful, though, eradication of the activities of vandal cannot be total.
“There will be isolated cases of vandalism or theft, but once they are reported, we intervene immediately. I would say the success rate so far is 80 per cent,” he said.
The Commissioner further explained that, in cases of oil spills in host communities, the Ministry conducts on-the-spot assessments and inspections. The company responsible for the soill is then mandated to compensate the community and carry out proper clean-up exercises.
According to him, these interventions contributed to Delta State receiving a national award in 2024 as the “Safest and Most Peaceful State for oil and gas investment in Nigeria.”
In his words: “As a supervisory Ministry in the Oil and Gas sector, the State, through the Ministry of Oil and Gas, is well positioned for professionalism and relevance in consonance with the expectations of the people, following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“This has gone a long way in repositioning the Ministry for effective and efficient performance, in line with the extant practice and current trend in the Oil and Gas Sector.” Also, the Commissioner disclosed that under his supervision, the Ministry had “enthusiastically pursued and restored normalcy and peace between oil companies and their host communities.”
This, he noted, was achieved through mediation and conflict resolution mechanisms across numerous communities in the state.
He affirmed: “As a ministry, we were able to achieve all these in line with the MORE agenda of His Excellency, the Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, in terms of Enhanced Peace and Security as well as Opportunity for All.
The Ministry, he said, remained focused and committed to ensuring that the State maintained its leading position in oil production in Nigeria.”
