The current crisis in the oil-rich Niger Delta has cost Italian oil giant, ENI Group, some 50,000 barrels of its daily production in Nigeria.
The Vice-Chairman/Managing Director of the Italian firm�s Nigerian subsidiary, Agip Oil Company, Mr. Antonio Panza, told our correspondent on Friday in Lagos, that the company was planning to resume production of between 30,000 and 35,000bpd within the next couple of days.
He said, �We hope to restart some 30,000 to 35,000bpd within the next couple of days, and in another one week, we restart the balance. We have to restart them in phases because of the vandalisation of some of our equipment in the course of militant attacks.�
He, however, ruled out the possibility of an immediate return of families of staff of the company, which were evacuated in September, during an earlier attack on the company.
According to him, �We will return the families if the situation gets back to normalcy. They are not going to stay away indefinitely because the ENI Group is here for the long term, we have invested heavily in the country and intend to invest more.�
With regards to the group�s four foreign workers taken hostage by a militant group from its Brass, Bayelsa State location, Panza said they were confident in the ability of both the Federal and State governments to negotiate the release of the hostages without the use of force.
Eni Chief Executive, Mr. Paolo Scaroni, during his visit to Nigeria last week �confirmed and supported the choice of the Nigerian Authorities of proceeding with the negotiations for the release of the hostages, avoiding any kind of military intervention,�
He also confirmed that his company had been in direct contact with the kidnappers.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, on December 7, seized four workers – three Italians and one Lebanese -from an oil pumping station located in Brass.
MEND accused ENI of attempting to pay a ransom and threatened to kill the hostages if the company continues to do so.
Rather than money MEND is demanding the release of Mujahid Dokubu Asari, a militia leader being tried on charges of treason, and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a former Bayelsa state governor, who was arrested on money laundering.