Posted by By Emma Amazie & Hector Igbikiowubo on
WARRI - THE United States of America (USA) says it will continue to support the Niger Delta in the quest for a better deal in Nigeria.....
WARRI - THE United States of America (USA) says it will continue to support the Niger Delta in the quest for a better deal in Nigeria, although with a caution that the region should not always insist on its solution alone in confronting the crises there.
In the meantime, the Federal Government is set to sign a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) agreement this week with multinational oil exploration and production companies that secured oil and gas blocs in this year's mini licencing round.
The US Consul General in the country, Mr. Brian Brown on a courtesy visit to the Ijaw national leader Chief Edwin Clark at his Kiagbodo country home in Delta State, weekend, advised the Niger Delta people to continue to compromise when necessary and dialogue with government and the oil companies to get a just deal for the region.
Chief Clark who expressed delight at the visit of the American consul had earlier said hostage-taking by youths in the Niger Delta was borne out of frustration and deprivations by the army of unemployed youths who felt that their elders had failed them by not ensuring that they were given employment in oil companies in their domains.
He complained, for instance, that Chevron Oil Company, which is an American firm, has its headquarters in Lagos while the field operations were carried out in the Niger Delta. According to him, the people of the region were not happy by such a development and would want the headquarters of Chevron to be brought to Warri, that of Mobil to Eket and Elf to Bayelsa State.
Clark told the American consul that hostage-taking persisted in the region because the people still drank industrial water from the Chevron and suffer oil health implications as a result of oil exploration but the companies simply refused to do anything or do so little.
US wants dialogue
Mr. Brown who commended Clark for his leadership qualities and desire to see the development and prosperity of his people said the people of the Niger Delta should learn that there was not bound to be agreement on every issue, and therefore, develop relationship and trust with both the government and the oil companies.
He said it was not for the people or even the government of the United States to decide where Chevron should site its headquarters in Nigeria, noting that all over the world, there is a difference between the operational areas of a company and its headquarters, which are usually in the business capitals.Mr. Brown said as germane as the case of the people of the region was, they had to continue to dialogue with the oil companies to assist them because the companies were not government and should not be coerced into doing things that are not in their agenda.
He said the American government would be able to put a word to Chevron to make its employment policy non-discriminatory if that was the case but said if the right business environment was not created, the companies would not be able to work in the region.
Thanking the Ijaw leader for the role he played in the release of hostages kidnapped by the militants, he said the people of the zone should grow above such means of protesting under-development in their area, as foreigners who were not the cause of their anger were being subjected to unnecessary terror.
Chief Clark agreed with him that the oil companies would run away if the people remained or continued to be hostile and pledged that they were ready for dialogue but just that at times, the people who ought to take decisions that would help the situation were inconsiderate and slow.
FG, multinational set to sign PSC
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is set to sign a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) agreement this week, with multinational oil exploration and production companies which participated and secured oil and gas blocks in the 2006 mini licensing round.
Mr. Tony Chukwueke, Director-General of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) told Vanguard yesterday in Lagos that the signing had been unduly delayed for reasons beyond the control of the department, pointing out, however, that arrangements had been concluded to have the PSCs signed with operators of non-controversial oil blocks.
'Definitely, we foresee the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) signing the PSCs before the end of the month with the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), ONGC of India and BG-Sahara," he said.
Although there are indications that the delay in signing of the PSC may not be unconnected with the attachment of Local Content Vehicles (LCV) to the oil blocks, Mr. Chukwueke said the Department was set to inspire confidence in all stakeholders through its transparent conduct.
On the other winners who emerged from the exercise, Mr. Chukwueke assured that the signing process would continue till everybody's interest was addressed. The other companies which participated in the mini licensing round are: Cleanwaters Consortium, Ni-Delta United Oil Company, ONGC Mittal, Global Steel Holding, INC Natural Resources Exploration, Transnational Corporation, NAOC/Lotus, ONGC Videsh, and CPC/Starcrest Energy.
Nine of the oil blocks put on offer were relinquished by operators of the 1993-1998 Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) through mandatory adherence to existing regulations, while four other blocks are those withdrawn from the 2005 bid round for which the winners defaulted in payment of signature bonus.
The operators of the 1991-1998 PSCs had to relinquish 50 per cent of the blocks awarded to them, to government in line with plans to ensure rapid development of hydrocarbon resources.
These oil and gas blocks include: OPLs 209 (from Mobil's Erha oil field), 212 (from Shell's Bonga deepwater field), 211 213, 216, 217, 218, 220 and 246 (from Total's Akpo oil field), while those withdrawn from the 2005 round for which winners defaulted includes: 289, 233, 281 and 471.
The DPR boss explained that the pre-qualification of the companies to bid for the oil blocks was a deliberate strategy by government to match investment in the critical downstream energy sector with that in the lucrative oil exploration sector where international market prices are currently a handsome incentive.
He said prospective bidders for deepwater blocks were expected to commit to 80 per cent work programme, development of one well in the first phase with a budget of $75 million and two wells in the second phase.
Mr. Chukwueke also hinted that government intended ensure strict adherence to the PSC among other expectations.