In continuation of its ongoing investigation into the massive oil theft shrinking the country’s revenue in the downstream sector, the Adhoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating crude oil theft and loss of revenue from oil and gas Companies has summoned officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other government agencies in charge of oil revenue to appear before the chamber on Tuesday for further questioning.
According to reports, the House committee chaired by Rt. Hon Kabiru Alhassan Usman Rurum has in recent times begun a broad investigation following stunning allegations of massive oil theft caused by a well-coordinated conspiracy of regulatory agencies and their collaborators in the oil and gas sector.
In view of the allegation that most of the Marginal Field Operators are aiding oil theft in order to complement shortfalls in their production, the committee has reportedly seriously beamed its search light on these operators.
From the submission of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), some of the Marginal Field Operators in the Country Includes, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited, Prime Exploration & Production (Operator), Suffolk Petroleum Limited, Oriental Energy Resources Limited, Universal Energy Limited, Prim, e Exploration & Production (Operator), Pillar Oil Limited, Platform Petroleum Limited, Chorus Energy Limited, Millenium Oil and Gas Limited, Brittania U-Nigeria Limited, Network E&P Limited, Waltersmith Petroman Limited (Operator), Morris Petroleum Limited, Midwestern Oil and Gas Limited, Suntrust Oil Company Limited, Frontier Oil Limited, Energia Limited (Operator), Oando Production and Development Limited, Excel Exploration & Production Limited, Green Energy International Limited.
According to reports, the committee has held extensive interrogation and interaction with security agencies and will be engaging intensely the operators of the Marginal Fields, 14 Production Sharing Contract operators, and 57 Joint Venture operators in the days ahead.
Sources said that some complicit industry operators have boasted that nothing will come out from the House investigation like the previous ones before it, however, the committee chairman, Honourable Rurum, in his address during the first day of the committee’s public hearing held recently, said his committee would shock the nation with its findings and recommendations as it is committed to carrying out a thorough job whose report if implemented will put to an end the fiasco of oil theft in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, as the Adhoc committee’s investigation uncovered a seeming massive corruption and collusion of regulatory agencies at the export loading terminals, investigations showed that many arrested ocean vessels involved in massive underhand dealings had the tacit approval of the NNPC Limited.
It is believed that NNPCL has eased out regulatory agencies whose statutory responsibilities at the terminals would have checkmated massive underreporting of the actual volume of Nigerian crude oil being exported.
Honourable Rurum noted that the “Committee is also investigating the allegation that many senior serving and retired officers of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (Formerly DPR) are complicit because some of them may have vested interests in the Marginal Fields and the abandoned oil wells which litter the entire Niger Delta. From the reports received so far, most of the abandoned and non-decommissioned oil wells and pipelines have escalated incidences of oil theft.”
While it has been reported that circumstances surrounding the release of arrested and complicit vessels by prosecuting agencies are also looked into by the committee, Rurum stressed that the committee will not jump to conclusions on any allegation as the legislative procedure of the hearing meetings presents an opportunity to everyone to make their submission to the committee.
The Hearing of the Committee continues on Tuesday, and NNPC Limited, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Limited, NIMASA, NIWA, NMDRA, and federal ministries in charge of finance including the FIRS and the EFCC are expected to be in attendance.
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