By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) are set to widen cooperation and collaboration to ensure effective and unfettered environmental management in the nation’s petroleum industry.
This was made known during an interactive engagement between the Director-General/Chief Executive (DG/CE) of NOSDRA, Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke, and a team from MPNU at the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
Engr. Woke appreciated the MPNU team on their congratulatory message and kind gestures, acknowledging the importance of the proposed collaborative efforts.
According to him “We are prepared for a collaboration but experiences have shown that operators are not ready to collaborate as you don’t give us room to do the work”.
The DG/CE assured that NOSDRA was committed to working transparently and without shortcuts, calling for mutual cooperation to ensure successful outcomes.
“We will not accept any unnecessary and unusual shortcuts… be assured that we are ready to collaborate and do the right thing,” he added.
The team was led by Mrs Damilola Borishade, the Acting General Manager, Safety Health and Environment (MPNU) and Hashim Saidu (Acting Manager, External Relations.
In her presentation, Borishade provided an overview of Mobil Nigeria’s operations with details on the description of the Bonny River Terminal and the Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) located in Eket.
She emphasised the importance and value of the QIT operations, adding that the terminal produced four to six exports monthly, with each export totalling about 950,000 barrels.
Borishade concluded by highlighting the need for NOSDRA’s support in leveraging a fresh start under Engr. Woke’s leadership, assuring the agency of Mobil’s commitment to effective collaboration.
Borishade assured Engr. Woke of MPNU’s dedication to adhering to regulations.
She also stated that the oil company was willing to support NOSDRA Reference Laboratory (NRL) through training and capacity-building initiatives.
Both the Agency and MPNU pledged commitment to work together towards ensuring effective environmental management in the petroleum industry.
