GOVERNOR Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State advocated, yesterday, greater international involvement in the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis, stressing that this could unlock over one million barrels of crude oil currently shut-in and bring down prices.
The forum was the Nigeria session at the on-going 19th World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Madrid, Spain. He said contrary to general impression, hostage taking, arson and attack on oil facilities were on the decline in his state.
�If all George Bush and Tony Blair could achieve after their visits to Saudi Arabia was commitment to produce an additional 250,000 barrels per day to OPEC supplies, perhaps they should visit the Niger Delta to settle the problems there where over one million barrels of oil production remain shut-in,� he said.
Others speakers at the forum were Minister of State for Energy, Mr Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), represented by Senator Sanusi Daggash, the Minister of National Planning; Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Honourary Adviser to the President on Energy Strategy; and Mrs. Cecelia Ibru, Managing Director of Oceanic Bank Plc.
The Governor said it was time the world woke up to the reality that the problem in the Niger Delta was international and not a local one because increased oil production from the area is directly related to pricing.
He said plans had been concluded for the establishment of the Niger Delta Information Resource Centre aimed at putting out the right information in the public domain.
Sylva said Bayelsa State had for the first time taken a stand at the WPC to reach out to prospective foreign investors and sensitise them of the investment opportunities as well as efforts at guaranteeing security of such investment.
The governor blamed the crisis in the area on the failure of multinational oil exploration and production companies, noting that they were operating faulty and ineffectual corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
This development, he said, resulted in the collapse of the educational sector which in turn led to high unemployment rate in the area among other negative social problems.
According to him, governments at various levels have entrenched the peace in the Niger Delta region by resolving over the past two years the 50-year-old problem of how to split the oil revenue between the Federal Government and the oil producing states.
�While many people in the Niger Delta argue that justice means a fairer share of oil revenue for the oil producing states, geography simply demands more funds for the Niger Delta,� he said.
The Governor said as evidence of his government�s commitment to tackling the insecurity in the state, hostage taking, attacks on oil platform among other problems which reached a peak in August 2006 had dropped since his assumption of office and invited independent assessment of his claims.
He attributed this achievement to the triple �e� policy of engagement, empowerment and enforcement aimed at growing confidence in government action.
As a way of taking advantage of the huge hydrocarbon resource base of the state, he said the state-owned oil company, Bayesla Oil Company, acquired two assets including an Oil Mining Lease (OML) 46 (marginal field) which has a reserve portfolio of 26 million barrels and Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 240) with a proven reserve of 243 million barrels.
Speaking on �Reforming the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry as a Catalyst for Economic and social Development,� Ajumogobia said four deliverables were set target for the government reform policy including a comprehensive national oil and gas policy, the enabling and comprehensive petroleum industry bill, the revised institutional framework and implementation road map.
The Minister said one aspect of the reform process was that the concept of joint venture cash calls would be replaced by the equity, debt and third-party financing.
He explained that the essence of such incorporation was to make it flexible for the operating companies to be able to operate as commercial entities.
Lukman said the reform was aimed at opening the sector to foreign investors and that all the laws being reviewed were done in accordance with international practice.
On her part, Mrs. Ibru said with the consolidation of Nigerian banks, issue of finance by Nigerian banks was no longer a problem, adding that the local banks in conjunction with foreign banks were well-equipped to raise capital for projects in the oil and gas sector.
She specifically mentioned the LNG development and ExxonMobil projects where Nigerian banks played an active role in raising fund for their execution.