Oando Energy Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) have again cried out over the failure of government security agencies to prosecute criminals engaged in the stealing and hawking of the nation’s crude oil in the Niger Delta to the detriment of the country’s economy and investors’ return on investment.

The two companies and joint venture partners said the security issues in their area of operation have continued to be a major problem for them, wondering why there has not been any known prosecution of the oil thieves since the war on oil theft began.

They spoke yesterday in Lagos, during a panel session at the ongoing 48th Nigerian Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council (NAICE), with the theme, “Building a Sustainable Energy Future: Leveraging Technology, Supply Chain, Human Resources, and Policy.”

At the panel which centred on “Reforms and Sustainability of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry,” the General Manager, Base & District Operations, Oando Energy Resources Limited, Mr. Solomon Agbo and the Executive Director, NNPC Energy Services Limited, Mr. Abiola Busola, said the persistent security risk in the Niger Delta contributed to the failure in meeting their oil production target when Oando took over the Agip assets after divestment.

In his interventions, Agba expressed concern over the inability of the government to prosecute suspected oil thieves despite news of arrests, urging the security agencies to step up their game to save the oil and gas industry.

He said when Oando took over the divested assets, production increased by 30 per cent even without any new wells, but through optimising existing wells.

However, he said the situation later became tough with the hawking of stolen condensates (a light form of crude oil) on the streets in the Delta area.

According to him, there is a market for stolen crude, a situation that needs to be tackled by security agencies.

Agba said, “So, when we came in August and September, production was bad. By December, we increased by 30 per cent, not with any new wells, but in optimising security architecture. But I’d like to go to the practical level.

“If you go to Obiobi, Obiafu area, you’ll find, just on the road, condensates being sold. Please, security agents, take action.

“First of all, from my personal experience, we need to kill the market. There’s a market.

If you don’t target the market, then it will continue. So we need to target the market. There’s a market that these stolen products are going to.

“It’s the small boys that are being caught, and they go back to the system. I spoke about prosecution. Until we do something about prosecution, then the security challenges will not stop.”

He concurred with the call for some social engineering in the Delta, saying a lot of young men probably driven by cultural change and the lack of role models now have a penchant for quick wealth and not minding the consequences.

He called for deliberateness in creating social changes around the rural areas to stem them from indulging in illegal activities.

He also complained of the lack of complementary action by the states and local governments in tackling security challenges in the Delta, pointing out that only the federal government has been taking steps to address the situation.

“Lastly, and I will say this, I’ve seen a lot of effort from the federal government, but I’ve not seen a lot of effort from the sub-nationals.

“And they are the people closest to these facilities. So I want to see collaboration between the federal, state, local governments, and the operators. It’s between the state and the local government that we need to do quite a lot of work.

“Whatever thing that is being done from Abuja if it does not have the alignment of the people that are around there, it’s just a waste of time,” Agba added.

In his submission, Busola said the above-ground risks in the Delta area led to the NNPC/Oando JV’s failure to achieve the 50,000 barrels of oil which they had promised the management at the takeover of Agip assets by Oando.

“October last year, we finalised the Oando takeover of Agip assets. Like three, four months before that, we were meeting every week, getting ready.

“We promised the management 50,000 barrels. We had a lot of expectations, but the reality hit us in the face. And the reality is that, apart from the asset integrity issue, we had talked about, which is also a consequence of the security issue, is that there’s a serious problem in the Delta,” Busola explained.

He admitted that the federal government has continued to intervene through a number of measures, adding that there has to be a behavioural change in the Niger Delta through incentives.

Noting that the creation of Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) through the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was a commendable move by the government, Busola, however, argued that the industry must go beyond that and look into social performance, shared prosperity, and a few other things to achieve a total solution to the security issues.

“It is a big problem, and it calls for action from everyone. So it is a long story, and I can tell you, there is a problem.

“And you can hear his (Oando official’s) pain when he talks about security, security, security. The only thing stopping this performance of the promise before the takeover, and where we are today, is not the wells.

“Yes, there are challenges, but is it actually just above-ground issues, between the wellhead and the terminal issues, and it’s real, and every day we continue to face those issues,” Busola lamented. (THISDAY)