Posted by By Clara Nwachukwu and Obinna Ezeobi on
After weeks of media speculation, the Federal Government has finally redeployed the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Tony Chukwueke, to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
After weeks of media speculation, the Federal Government has finally redeployed the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Tony Chukwueke, to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
Mrs. Chioma Njoku, has been appointed to act as Director. She was hitherto, Head of Accounts, DPR.
Although no reason was given for his redeployment to the ministry, where he had previously served as Technical Adviser to the minister, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, available information indicated that his redeployment might be connected with the recent controversy surrounding the award of Oil Prospecting Licence 291.
The ministry had insisted on Friday that the process of allocating the oil blocks was proper, contrary to criticisms of opaqueness in the transaction.
Chukwueke had a successful career in the private sector, began his career with the Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited.
He started in 1978 as a Trainee Geophysicist and rose through the ranks to become the Business Development Manager (Africa), Shell International Gas, in charge of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco, a position he occupied from December 2000, until 2003 when he was poached by the minister.
After weeks of silence, in a press statement on Friday, signed by its Assistant Director, Press, Mr. Peter Ogbonna, the ministry said, 'The Ministry of Petroleum Resources is satisfied that the process that was established was followed and that the process by which Addax acquired the working interest in OPL 291 was in accordance with oil industry standard."
The statement explained the processes, which led to the eventual award of the oil block, saying, 'Nigeria introduced an open and transparent bidding process for acreage allocation in 2005. That process has been maintained for the 2006 Mini Round, which was conducted on the May 19, 2006 and the same process will be utilised for future Acreage Bid Round in Nigeria."
In the week leading to his redeployment, Chukwueke was sent on 'technical suspension", pending the conclusion of investigations into the award of the lucrative oil block to the consortium of Chinese Petroleum Corporation/Starcrest.
Although no bid was received for OPL 291 during the May 2006 Mini Round, India's ONGC/Mittal, was given a 'right of first refusal," which it failed to exercise at the bidding conference.