The Nation Newspaper

Tag: oil facilities

  • Full scale war brew in N’Delta as militants attack more facilities

    Full scale war brew in N’Delta as militants attack more facilities

    The Niger Delta region was on the verge of full scale war on Saturday after unrestrained attacks on oil facilities by armed youths believed to be loyalists of leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo).

    It was gathered that Saturday’s attacks were carried out in fast boats fitted with General Purpose Machine-gun (GPMG) and several frigates carrying heavily armed youths.

    Residents of the riverside communities said the militants paraded weapons more in numbers and sophistication than those used in previous crisis.

    Oil and gas pipelines in the creeks of Gbaramatu and Ugborodo areas of Warri South West and those in Egbema, North local government areas respectively of Delta state were affected in Saturday’s attacks.

    A source said, “The gas pipeline which from Olero creeks to Escravos were destroyed in the latest attack. Several crude lines were sabotaged while Makaraba, Otunana (Uton-Nana), Abiteye and Dibi flow stations were bomb.

    “The pipeline, which conveys gas from Saghara to Chevron was also destroyed and there are several persons trapped in the communities.

    “The kind of explosives and bombs they used are not like those of before; the effects were felt in several communities as they went off intermittently,” a local source told our reporter.

    The facilities destroyed included those of the Nigerian Gas Company, Chevron NIGERIA Limited and NECONDE among others.

    Our reporter learnt that the attacks could spread to Bayelsa and other states of the region within days, as the perpetrators plan to cripple crude oil production and export.

    There were indications that some operations of CNL were disrupted by the latest attacks.

    The company was forced to airlift its workers on Friday after militants blocked the waterways and restricted movement of transport boats, including Chevron’s Jascon transport boat.

    Although the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta was said to be fully prepared to deal with the onslaughts, the militants operated unhindered for several hours on Saturday.

    It was gathered that the attacks started in the wee hours of Saturday and lasted for several hours.

    “The sheer force of the explosion shook several communities and there were several explosions. There is panic everywhere and the waterways have again been taken over by armed gangs.”

    The Joint Media Campaign Centre Coordinator of the JTF, Col Isa Ado, was incommunicado since the onslaught began; dozens of telephone calls and SMS to his mobile line were answered.

    The incident came after Saturday’s attack on a strategic gas trunk line around Warri River on Friday morning, barely10hours after a Federal High Court ordered the arrest of Tompolo in connection with an ongoing N34billion fraud case at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    Although Tompolo had disowned the latest insurgence, security sources insisted that he is directly controlling the operation along with some of his close allies and his nephew who reportedly led the destruction of oil facilities in Warri North LGA on Saturday morning.

    At the time of this report, it was gathered that several former militants had returned to the creeks of Warri, in what is believed to be preparation for a major onslaught on oil facilities, security operatives and communities.

    Similarly, it was learnt that bunkers housing sophisticated arms and ammunition are being unearthed and deployed.

    A source said, “Boats are freely moving in and out of (an Ijaw community) with guns and other weapons. Boys are coming in from all over the region and they are being given their assignments and directives.

    “There is a stockpile of arms and petrol and boats are being fueled intermittently. This is not an ordinary operation, it is well planned and there seems to be several options and alternative plans,” one of the sources who fled the town, said.

    Conversely, as the militants are moving into the creeks, panicky inhabitants of the riverside communities, comprising mostly women and children continued the flight for safety in upland communities like Warri, Sapele and Ogbe-Ijoh, among others.

    Some of the fleeing locals were unhappy about their fates, with some lamenting that although they did not benefit from the largess from militancy they are made to face its consequences always.

    “We are tired of running like this always. In 2009, it was because of the killing of soldiers, today it is because of Tompolo and EFCC. We didn’t benefit from the NiIMASA money, there were individuals who got billions, others millions but how much did we get? Nothing! Yet we are the ones who are always the victims,” a middle-aged woman lamented in smattering English.

    Similarly, it was gathered that some Gbaramatu leaders have called Tompolo to caution him about the implications of engaging in a full blown war with federal forces.

    It was gathered that at least 10 very high ranking traditional titleholders have distance themselves from the attacks.

    “Most of our leaders are too afraid to speak out, while others cannot talk because they are benefiting one way or the other,” a youth leader told our reporter on condition that he would not be named.

  • Delta communities shut down oil facilities

    •Seek pipelines surveillance contracts, payment of N1.4b

    Angry host communities in Delta State yesterday shut down the facilities at Oil Mining Leases (OML) 26, 30, 34, and 65 over pipelines surveillance and operations agreement disputes with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

    The host communities shut down the facilities during a protest involving mostly women and youths.

    The protesters disrupted operations at the facilities in Udu and Ughelli South local government areas.

    They threatened to occupy the facilities until the company and the Federal Government heeded their demands.

    Besides demanding the immediate inclusion of Urhobo and Isoko host community’s representatives in the multi-billion naira pipelines surveillance contract, which was recently approved for Ijaw and Itsekiri by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the protesters also demanded the immediate payment of accumulated indebtedness to local contractors by the NPDC.

    They put the indebtedness at N1.4 billion.

    In a statement by leaders of the protest, including Morris Idiovwa, Efe Okovwurie, Pastor Rochard Erhurhore and John Obaro, the host communities said facilities at OML 26, 30, 34, and 65 would remain shut until NPDC and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) awarded to Urhobo and Isoko separate Pipeline Surveillance and Intelligence Gathering contracts.

    The protesters, who stormed the Jeremi Flow Station in the morning, shut down the facilities.

    They urged NPDC to create a Contract Department in its Edjeba office to take care of contractors in Delta State.

    The communities also demanded that NPDC pay up the nine-month outstanding salaries of host communities’ workers at OML 26, 30, 34, and 65.

    According to them, NPDC is heavily indebted to most of the indigenous contractors.

    The protesters decried the replacement of indigenous contractors, whose contract tenure had expired for over two years, and the inability of NPDC management to put in place new contracts for the host communities.

    NPDC, the host communities said, should create Assets Department for OML 26, 30, 34, and 65, adding that such must be located in the catchment areas where the facilities are located.

     

     

  • We can handle complex oil facilities, says firm

    Kaztec Engineering Limited can deliver world-class complex facilities such as offshore platforms and subsea infrastructure to the oil and gas industry, its Managing Director,Mr John Niezner, has said.

    Niezner told The Nation in the United States that many people working for Kaztec have handled and delivered very complex facilities at their former workplaces and can easily do that for the operators.

    He said: “Kaztec is a wholly indigenous company. It is not owned by any foreign company. It is not partly-owned by any foreign company. There is a great deal of interest from the operators. What the operators are looking for is past experience. We said we can deliver, and we have delivered. There are many people in the industry that are working for Kaztec that in their previous roles have delivered very complex facilities, which we want to prove now to the operators over the next six to nine months. Yes, there is incredible interest in Kaztec fabrication yard in Lagos and we are handling very complex projects.”

    Niezner also noted that in the next three to five years, he expects to see substantial growth in the company where projects will be delivered at lower costs.

    “We are looking at incredible amount of growth in Nigeria. Once we break the problems associated with high cost, we will see a lot more opportunities for companies like Kaztec. We are looking at strategic relationships with indigenous companies because basically for one company to do all these is too much,” he added.

    He stated that the focus of Kaztec in the last few years has been in offshore installation, barges, laying pipelines and installing platforms offshore.

    ‘’What we are diversifying into is full delivery chain of works for the operators. From concept to commission, we insist in developing solutions for offshore, utilising indigenous equipment, right throug”, he added.

    According to him, the oil and gas industry service business is not just about dependence on technology. It is reliant on effective and efficient managerial processes within the organisation. What we need to do is to address that first and the technology will underpin that in good time. We need to really address the efficiency and process in the industry, which is cumbersome and very costly, he stated.

    On what he expects from the new government, he said: “Our focus is to provide services to the operators regardless of government, we will continue to provide that service and realise our vision. We hope and really trust that the incoming government will support us because we are doing the right thing that will benefit not only the operators but benefit the nation and of course, Kaztec. Niezner said his company wants  the government to ensure that the Nigerian content Act is maintained fully (100 per cent) and that work is done in Nigeria by Nigerians, not by foreign companies, to encourage the establishment of Nigerian companies.

    ‘’The government should  not only establish those companies,  but also see to the  establishment of capabilities within those companies to execute works to international standards. That is one of the downsides. What we are seeing is a lot of new companies coming to the surface in Nigeria that do not have the capabilities, which will have detrimental effect resulting in projects needing higher costs and longer schedules.

  • Dialogue may check attacks on oil facilities

    A combination of the instrument of dialogue and force would help in securing the oil facilities in Nigeria, the Managing Director, Exxon Mobil, Mark Ward, has said.

    Ward at an oil and gas conference in Lagos, said it is not good to use force always to protect oil installations in the country, arguing that force could help check attacks on oil facilities.

    He said: ‘’ Some of the challenges in the sector are social in nature. They have to do with the communities where oil is being produced. Dialogue can be embraced to tackle some of the problems. Armed forces personnel would not be everywhere to protect oil facilities; therefore we need to explore the option of dialogue to resolve crisis.

    ‘’ Oil and gas production has given new equation to the development of the sector. The problems are complex, but not insurmountable as many people think”.

    He said Nigeria is a unique place to do business, in spite of the numerous problems it is passing through. The industry’s problems, Ward said, require collaboration among the stakeholders to be solved.

    He said five international oil companies (IOCs) announced divestment of interest in onshore blocks because of insecurity, adding that the time has come to solve the problem to move the industry forward. He said the potentials of the industry is huge and cannot be compared to any other sectors of the economy. This, he said, is evident by the contributions of the sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP).