Chairman of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Oil Theft/Losses, Hon Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has assured the parliament would push legislation to enhance the involvement of private security outfits in protecting the nation’s oil and gas facilities nationwide.
The Lawmaker gave the assurance when he led Chairmen of other oil and gas-related committees for an on-the-spot assessment of vessels arrested by a private security outfit, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, in collaboration with security agencies in Delta State for allegedly stealing crude oil in Bayelsa State.
Several suspects were arrested and handed over to the security agencies.
The Committees on the visit included Environment, Host Communities, Niger Delta, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Midstream), Gas Resources and Petroleum Resources (Training Fund).
Hon Ado-Doguwa lauded the security firm for doing a good job in protecting oil installations in the Niger Delta which had led to improved production.
According to him, “We will also see to the possibility of creating a legal framework where these private institutions like Tantita would be allowed not only on the shallow waters but even to go and operate in the high seas, the deep waters to see how they can protect our assets, to see how they can fight seriously against oil theft and this kind of vandalization that has continued to affect adversely the development of our economy.
“The economy is around the oil sector and we must have to do whatever is needed to protect our oil assets and to protect these very particular areas so that we would continue to catch up with the quota accorded to us by OPEC which is the most important thing. We must do that because it is only when you do that you can be able to generate the desired revenue, and the desired resources to develop the country. And reduce pressure on the naira. So many other things. I want to say on behalf of the committee, we have seen very good work done by Tantita.
“We have also seen a very good work being done by our security agencies, Nigerian Army, the Navy and Civil Defence, doing their very best and on our own part we will continue to now create a better performing environment for them to see to the protection of our oil assets.”
The lawmaker lamented that the House was so very concerned about the incessant rising spate of crude oil theft and crisis happening over the area.
According to him, “I want to tell you that we are all out to see increased production of our oil and gas industry in the country. One of the major challenges we are facing is about production, increased production. In the recent stakeholder meeting we had with the minister of the economy, the issue has always been about increased production.
“No matter what oil would be in the future, at least we are not sure of the fact that it remains the live wire of the economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and a continuous crisis like this where you have issues of theft, vandalization of pipelines and a lot of other crisis around the oil-producing states, is of serious concern to the National Assembly and particularly to this committee which has a special mandate to over these unfortunate happenings of the shores of our producing states.
“And by what we have seen today, we have seen a complete sense of determination, a complete sense of commitment by the security agencies alongside the private support and commitment of the private company we call Tantita. Tantita is one good company that is doing well for the nation. We have seen how much Tantita has done in trying to protect our oil assets.
“In this regard this committee would like to say a very big thank you to him on behalf of the people of Nigeria and on behalf of members of the House of Representatives, and we would continue to do the best we can in terms of partnership, in terms of collaborating with some of these civil security organizations, the Nigerians security agencies also we collaborate and partner with them to see how we can promotion of our oil assets around the creeks. This would involve not only creating the enabling environment. We also try to review surveillance intelligence operations and structures around our oil assets,” he said.
Chairman of the Oil Committee on Oil Theft, Hon Fred Agbedi also expressed the commitment of the House to tackle the problem of deal with the problem of crude oil theft.
He also lauded the security agonies as well as the security outfit for their efforts in securing oil and gas facilities and promised to ensure they get more support to do more.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Midstream), Hon. Prince Odianosen Henry Okojie, said the various relevant committees would work in sync to deal with the menace and shore up the country’s revenue to enhance development.
He pointed out that the unfortunate incident falls within his purview as the chairman of midstream, which involves the processing, storing, transporting, and marketing of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.
Okojie, who also commended Tantita and the security agencies for their efforts to address the problem, said the committee would encourage and pursue collaborations that will make the lives of Nigerians better.
The Edo lawmaker reiterated the commitment of the present administration to revitalizing the nation’s oil and gas sector and pledged commitment to ensure it comes to fruition.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon Eugene Okechikwu Dibia Agu, expressed optimism over the increased production of oil.
According to him, “for sometime now Nigeria as a people, we have not had it so good like this. Before now, our barrel per day was a less than a million barrels per day. But as at today, you now can see that we are now making a million plus. At the National Assembly our budget estimate per day is 1.8 million per day. But by the grace of God, the way Tantita is working, it is going to be realized because anything short of that means that we are going to run into a deficit budget. So on that note, I encouraged the Federal government to encourage Tatita and help them with the challenges so they can do more because actually they have done very well in terms of safeguarding our and other infrastructures within the marine areas,” he said.
The Executive Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Waridi Eniusoh, urged the government to strengthen collaboration with private security firms to protect oil facilities.
According to him, “even the Chief of Defence Staff said that the Navy cannot cover it all. So that is where the private security would come in and cover that gap. Part of why the maritime vandalization is becoming very frequent is that we have been able to push them from the land area. Because they used to tamper with the pipelines before. So now with the pipelines almost secure they are now moving further into the ocean, which they feel is not guarded. But as we said the government is putting a plan in place to make sure that the facilities that float are also equally guarded just like the pipelines are guarded,” he said.
The delegation also visited the Chief Executive of Tantita, Chief Government Ekpemupolo in his office at Oporoza headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta.