Niger Delta crisis: NNPC raises fresh alarm on crude oil shortfall

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has raised a fresh alarm, drawing attention to activities of militants in the Niger Delta region of the country.

It noted that if nothing is urgently done in finding lasting solution to militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, the Corporation and other oil companies in Nigeria will be crippled.

This was part of the concluding statement of NNPC special monitoring team on the crisis-ridden Niger Delta region, which briefed a meeting of past chief executive officers of the corporation with Dr. Joseph Thiama Dawha its current CEO in a crucial meeting on Sunday.

The meeting was said to have been necessitated by renewed concern over a feasible total collapse of Nigeria’s economy unless immediate steps were taken to appease the youth in the region.

Taking a critical review at the situation in the sector, the gathering stressed the need to avoid any situation that could lead to a total crippling of the corporation and the nation’s oil and gas sector, the mainstay of its economy.

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“Since insecurity is threatening production and damaging the Niger Delta environment. There is the urgent need for government and security agencies to refocus as well as engage the various host communities,” said the statement.

They were said to be against any action capable of disturbing the peace move that the Niger Delta Avengers and other militant groups have agreed to to stop hostilities, in view of the fact that the actions of the groups has already reduced Nigeria’s crude oil output by 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.56 million bpd since the start of the year.

However, another group, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, which had claimed responsibility for last Tuesday attack on an oil pipe line in Warri, insisted on a total withdrawal of military personnel from the region as a condition for embracing peace.

Also at the weekend, 14 oil workers were abducted by an unknown group in Port Harcourt Rivers State.

The attacks have meant that the government has had to struggle to fund its budget, which assumes oil production of 2.2 million bpd, hampering the implementation of plans aimed at boosting the flagging economy.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, on Monday denied reports of possible increase in the prices of petroleum products in the country.

Both men spoke after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abujafolowing the reports that a meeting of former GMDs of NNPC had recommended increase in fuel price, claiming that the current price is no longer sustainable.

By Emma Eke….

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