Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has blamed high rate of oil theft in Nigeria to the refusal of oil companies in keeping faith with their Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs), thereby making the stakeholders to lose confidence in the system.
Okowa stated this when he received a Federal Government delegation on anti-Oil theft led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in Asaba.
He explained that when oil companies failed to sign or implement MOUs, it becomes very difficult for the state government to mediate when there are issues.
According to Okowa, “The security agencies must heighten their operations and they need to be resourced to enable them to also increase their level of surveillance and for this to succeed, there must be sincerity on the part of all stakeholders”.
He maintained that reviewing oil surveillance contracts based on performance of the contractors and engagement of host communities would ensure effectiveness in securing the nation’s oil and gas assets.
Admitting that the challenge of oil-theft was huge, given the level it had assumed, he expressed pleasure over steps being taken by the authorities to curb the menace.
He added:”It impacts on the health of the people and sustainability of the environment and I am glad that we are taking some steps because there are so many issues that led us to this.
“We went through situations where gaps where created between host communities and oil companies, and unfortunately criminality set in.
“It has gone so bad but we are doing our best as a state. I am also glad about this collaboration,’’ he said and stressed the pertinence of a review of surveillance contracts of the oil facilities to ensure community involvement.
He further pointed out that it was often difficult to secure the facilities, especially when the persons given the contracts did not have adequate information on the environment or not have the buy-in of host communities.
“We know that the impact of the nefarious activities on the health of the people cannot be immediately ascertained, and this collaboration is, therefore, very imperative.
“Any measure that will deliberately reduce the level of oil thefts is definitely worth supporting, and as a state government, we pledge our continued support.
“Why investment of the communities is needed is because there are some parts of the creeks that cannot be accessed by the surveillance contractor. Therefore, surveillance contracts should not be such that communities are not involved.
“The surveillance contracts should be tied to performance such that when there are oil thefts you terminate the contract and it is always good that communities are involved because they know the environment better,” he said.