The House of Representatives has accused International Oil Companies,
IOCs operating in Nigeria of aiding and abetting oil theft and
bunkering in the country.
The accusation was levelled against the
oil majors yesterday, re-echoing an earlier similar accusation levelled
against the IOCs by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin. Jibrin,
had at a meeting on September 3 with oil companies operating in the
country, threatened to expose some IOCs which are allegedly aiding and
abetting crude oil theft in Nigeria’s coastal waters.
The House of Representatives has therefore called on the Chief of Naval Staff to name the oil companies aiding oil theft. The
House further directed its Committees on Petroleum Resources
(Downstream), (Upstream), and Justice to, within 30 days, investigate
the veracity of the allegations by the Chief of Naval Staff. Speaking
on a motion raised by him, Rep. Hassan Saleh (Benue/PDP), said.
“The
international oil companies are not giving the much desired cooperation
to the Nigerian Navy, and this is disturbing as the Chief of Naval Staff
has also accused some of those oil companies of creating an enabling
environment that aids oil bunkering, crude oil theft and piracy by
leaving their wells open for years, rather than having them sealed, an
action that is clearly against all known international best practices.
“For
the Chief of Naval Staff to have aired his frustration in such matter,
calls for serious concern from all, particularly with the nature of
information at his disposal.” Reports quotes the Nigerian Navy as saying the country loses $20 billion annually to crude oil theft.
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