By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Director-General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke has said that the Tinubu administration is working tirelessly to plug the loopholes in regulating enforcements in the oil industry.
Engr. Woke said this when a team from Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) paid him a courtesy visit at the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
He assured of a better working relationship between NOSDRA and OPTS.
The DG/CE stated that while the overall goal was to ensure maximum production of oil and gas to promote robust economic growth in the country, the centrality of ensuring environmental sustainably in the industry, which is the mandate of NOSDRA, could not be underscored.
He berated the nonchalant attitude of certain members of OPTS in honouring invitation from the agency about complaints from host communities regarding oil pollution matters.
He said that inability of oil companies to respond to invitations on spills could escalate tension with communities, apart from attracting sanction from the regulatory authority.
The DG/CE warned that under his watch, ignoring invitations from NOSDRA would no longer be condoned from defaulting oil companies.
He made an appeal to OPTS to embark on community enlightenment and sensitization for host communities on petroleum industry crimes, including pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, stressing that this was key and effective means of addressing such crimes and fostering social peace in oil-bearing communities.
Woke said that apart from strengthening inter-agency task force to address crude oil theft and other crimes in the oil industry, closer cooperation and collaboration among critical stakeholders, including NOSDRA, oil companies and host communities, would also tackle the issues.
Earlier, the Executive Director of OPTS, Mr. Gwueke Ajaifia, said the visit was to congratulate the DG/CEO on his appointment.
Mr. Ajaifa disclosed that the visit was also meant to engage and introduce members to the DG/CE, apart from exploring areas of cooperation with the association, which is a collection of 25 indigenous oil companies and five foreign-owned operators in the country.
He said OPTS had been committed to giving environmental conservation in the petroleum industry a pride of place, hence its quest for a cordial relationship with NOSDRA, which, according to him, occupies a central position among the regulatory bodies in the oil and gas industry by virtue of its statutory mandate as a lead agency in environmental management of pollution matters in the country.
