By Our Correspondent
The Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) being operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has gulped N16.7 billion for social and infrastructural projects in various host communities in the past 10 years.
Manager, Social Performance and Planning, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Tunji Idowu made the disclosure at a Media Capacity Building Programme for Journalists held recently in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
Delivering a paper titled “The Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU): “10 years of Chevron”s Community Engagement Model,” he said that there had been a significant improvement in the relationship between the company and host communities since its implementation began in 2005.
According to him, the GMoU has also stemmed duplications of projects in the various communities since the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture, state governments and communities were directly involved in citing of projects needed by them.
Mr. Idowu also said that communities now sees the projects as theirs and engender sustainability unlike in the past when projects were cited without the inputs of the communities that saw them as Chevron Projects.’
In his presentation, Mr. James Okereke, Manager, Offshore Assets, Chevron Nigeria Limited, harped on the need for the Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry to be globally competitive and for government to remove obstacles to investments and development in the sector.
He said in a paper titled “Chevron Overview: The Energy Equation” that the global industry dynamics has resulted in low oil prices and advocated the need for the industry to be globally competitive to attract investment in the sector.
“To attract investment, Nigeria oil and gas industry must be globally competitive and remove obstacles to investment and development”, he added.
The Group General Manager, NNPC-NAPIMS, Engr. Dafe S. Sejebor FNAPE, who was represented by Mrs. Clementina Arubi, Deputy Manager, Community Development of the Public Affairs Department of NNPC-NAPIMS decried incessant oil pipeline vandalisation and urged the media to embark on advocacy on effect of the dastardly act on environment and health of the people.
Engr. Sejebor said government had done a lot to protect oil pipelines with the involvement of stakeholders including security agencies adding “a lot still needed to be done to stem the problem of vandalisation”.
Also, between 2009 and 2011, he disclosed that over 136 million barrels of crude oil worth $10.9 billion were lost to theft and pipeline vandalism, going by the details of another report by NEITI.
The Group General Manager bemoaned the estimate by former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy that well over 400, 000 barrels of crude oil translating to N7 billion is lost daily to the activities of these oil thieves.
He said that oil theft and pipeline vandalism hemorrhages the national economy and also results in lost income to the oil companies and other stakeholders.
He listed river and land pollution; environmental degradation; increased criminality and insecurity in the oil rich but impoverished Niger Delta region; shut down and force de majeure by the international companies leading to loss of revenues; and high number of death as some of the result of the hydra-headed scourge.
According to him, the upsurge of oil theft requires multilateral and concerted effort to address the problem, advising that all stakeholders in the oil industry, oil communities and security forces should be involved in solving the menace.
Mr. Deji Haastrup, the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA), Department of Chevron Nigeria Limited said in his remarks that, “I want to tell you Journalists that you are in a noble profession. Your profession is that of society builders. We are building the capacity of journalists as our little way of helping the society to have a better press. We in Chevron attach great importance to the Journalism profession and we want all of you here to consider yourselves to be privileged to be reporters at this time. We are doing this for you to make you a little better in your chosen profession.”
