Reps summon 19 oil firm CEOs to explain default in payment
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
More than $9 billion gas flaring fines owed for several years by local and foreign oil firms will be recovered, the House of Representatives has pledged.
House Gas Flaring Committee Chairman Ahmed Munir gave the assurance at a post-investigative hearing in Abuja, attended by stakeholders drawn from the Ministry of Environment, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), among others.
The committee also resolved to summon the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of 19 oil and gas companies to appear before it.
Munir said: “I can assure you that we will not take this lying down. There are two ways to go about it. We have the issues of penalties that are not paid, amounting to about $9 billion or thereabout. We know how to recover it.
“Secondly, those that are still polluting, how do you ensure you get it down to zero, and what are the penalties that are going to be in place?
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PIA makes the difference
“Thirdly, the big difference between then and now is, we now have a PIA [Petroleum Industry Act] in place. So, how do you implement it? Where we have a loophole … that’s why we are here, to hear from the people concerned. Is there any amendment that will be required?” Munir asked, according to reporting by The Guardian.
“If you are going to bid for oil bloc in Nigeria, and you see that, of the criteria, one is: your gas master plan. How do you key into that? You can’t win a bid without ensuring you’ll be able to utilise that gas or evacuate the gas responsibly.”
RMAFC Gas Monitoring Committee Chairman Patrick Mgbebu told the lawmakers gas flare penalty from 2013-June 2018 was $0.30 and from July-December to 2023 is $2.00.
He said penalties payable amounted to $3 billion and the value of gas would have been $12 billion if sold and not flared.
Environment Ministry Director Olubunmi Olusanya underscored the need for legislative backing to the use of oil trackers as part of measures to end gas flaring
House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, represented by Chief Whip Usman Kumo, lamented gas flaring and venting have for many years constituted significant environmental, economic, health, and social menace.
Those summoned by the panel
The firms whose CEOs were summoned are:
- Total/Mobil JV Domestic Wing
- Total/Oando JV
- Total Energies
- African Petroleum (AP) now Ardova
- Azman Oil & Gas
- Matrix Oil & Gas
- AM Shafa
- Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)
- National Council on Climate Change (NCCC)
- Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC)
- Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company (Aje Oilfield Offshore)
- Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy (SEEPCO)
- Belemaoil Production
- Walter Smith Petroman Oil
- Green Energy International
- Millennium Oil and Gas Company
- Folawiyo Energy
- Eroton Exploration and Production Nigeria
- Niger Delta Petroleum Resources
