Oil & Energy

Bayelsa, NOSDRA To Investigate Oil Spill In Koluama

Published

5 years ago

January 25, 2021

Officials of the Bayelsa State Government have led some environmentalists, officials of the Ministry of Minerial Resources and Environment and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to the site of the recent oil spill in Koluama, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.
According to the government officials, the visit was to assure the affected communities of government’s efforts to ascertain the source of the spill, extent of the spill and its effects on the livelihoods of the people.
The oil spill happened on January 16 near Funiwa offshore facilities, off the Atlantic coast.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Bayelsa State Governor on Oil and Gas, Mr. Timi Seimiebo, who led the visitation team, urged the people of the community to remain calm.
He said samples taken from the oil spill site would be sent for laboratory analysis to know the oil exploration company responsible for it.
According to Seimiebo, “Once the samples have been tested and the identity of the company is known, we will ask them to stand up to their responsibility as an oil company.”
Also speaking, an environmentalist and Head of Field Operations, Environment Rights Action, Comrade Alagoa Morris, explained that though the visit was not the statutory Joint Investigative Visit (JIV), the trip was a fact-finding mission to assess the level of impact on the people and environment.
“The visit was an assessment trip to see things and suggest the way forward given the fact that no oil company has owned up. It cannot be a JIV because no oil company was represented so we shall submit an interim report to guide our further action,” Morris said.
Also, Youth President of Koluama 1, one of the areas worst hit by the spill, Mr Kiwei Emmanuel, said the regulators, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), took samples from the sediments at the coastline for laboratory tests to trace the source of pollution.
Emmanuel said members of the team also saw heaps of fishing nets, fishing gear and accessories destroyed by the pollution, and traced the spread of the crude along the coast into the creeks and mangrove vegetation.
The oil spill, which occurred last week in the Koluama community of Bayelsa State, has attracted public attention following the denial by Chevron Oil Company that it was responsible for it as earlier claimed by the residents of the community.
While Chevron Oil Limited owns Funiwa Oil Platform, Conoil Limited owns Auntie Julie Oil Platform in the area.
The oil spill has affected aquatic life and the mainstay of the community’s economy, which is fishing.

The Chairman of the KEFFES Rural Development Foundation, Mr. Mathew Sele-epri, said he got in touch with the major operators in the area as soon as he heard about the spill.

“As I took a boat ride in the affected parts of the water, I saw dead fishes floating. And I noticed that the ecosystem was being damaged and aquatic life had been grossly affected,” he said

Oil & Energy

NERC, OYSERC Partner To Strengthen Regulation

Published

1 day ago

February 23, 2026

The Tide

THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has stressed the need for strict adherence to due process in operationalizing state electricity regulatory bodies.

It, however, pledged institutional and technical support to the Oyo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (OYSERC).

The Chairman, NERC, Dr Musiliu Oseni, who made the position known while receiving the OYSERC delegation, emphasised that the establishment and take-off of state commissions must align fully with the law setting them up.

Oseni said that the NERC remains committed to partnering with State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERC) to guarantee their institutional stability, operational effectiveness and long-term success.

He insisted that regulatory coordination between federal and state institutions is critical in the evolving electricity market framework, noting that collaboration would help to build strong institutions capable of delivering sustainable outcomes for the sector.

Also speaking, the Acting Chairman, OYSERC and leader of the delegation, Prof. Dahud Kehinde Shangodoyin, said that the visit was aimed at formally introducing the commission’s acting leadership to the NERC and laying the groundwork for a productive working relationship.

Shangodoyin said , the acting members were appointed to provide direction and lay a solid foundation for the commission during its transitional period, pending the appointment of substantive members.

“We are here to formally introduce the acting leadership of OYSERC and to establish a working relationship with NERC as we commence our regulatory responsibilities,” he said.

He acknowledged NERC’s readiness to provide technical and regulatory support, particularly in the area of capacity development, describing the backing as essential for strengthening the commission’s operations at this formative stage.

“We appreciate NERC’s willingness to support us technically and regulatorily, especially in building our capacity during this transition,” he added.

Oil & Energy

NLC Faults FG’s 3trn Dept Payment To GenCos

Published

1 day ago

February 23, 2026

The Tide

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Association of Power Generation Companies have engaged in a showdown over federal government legacy debt.

NLC president Joe Ajaero has faulted the federal government’s move to give GenCos N3 trillion from the Federation account as repayment for a power sector legacy debt, which amounts to N6.5 trillion.

In a statement on Thursday, Ajaero said the Federal Government proposed the N3 trillion payment and the N6 trillion debt as a heist and grand deception to shortchange the Nigerian people.

“Nigerians cannot and should not continue to pay for darkness,” Ajaero stated.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Power Generation Companies, APGC, Dr. Joy Ogaji, said Ajaero may be ignorant of the true state of things, insisting that the federal government is indebted to GenCos to the tune of N6.5 trillion.

She feared the longstanding conflict could result in the eventual collapse of the country’s power.

According to her, the federal government’s N501 billion issuance of power sector bonds is inadequate to address its accumulated debt.

Oil & Energy

PENGASSAN Rejects Presidential EO On Oil, Gas Revenue Remittance ……… Seeks PIA Review

Published

1 day ago

February 23, 2026

The Tide

The Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria(PENGASSAN) Festus Osifo, has faulted the public explanation surrounding the Federal Government’s recent oil revenue Executive Order(EO).

President of the association, Festus Osifo, argued that claims about a 30 per cent deduction from petroleum sharing contract revenue are misleading.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last Wednesday, February 18, signed the executive order directing that royalty oil, tax oil, profit oil, profit gas, and other revenues due to the Federation under production sharing, profit sharing, and risk service contracts be paid directly into the Federation Account.

The order also scrapped the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund under the PIA and stopped the 30 per cent management fee on profit oil and profit gas retained by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

In his reaction, Osifo, while addressing journalists, in Lagos, Thursday, said the figure being referenced does not represent gross revenue accruing to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

He explained that revenues from production sharing contracts are subject to several deductions before arriving at what is classified as profit oil or profit gas.

Osifo also urged President Bola Tinubu to withdraw his recently signed Presidential Executive Order to Safeguard Federation Oil and Gas Revenues and Provide Regulatory Clarity, 2026.

He warned that the directive undermines the Petroleum Industry Act and could create uncertainty in the oil and gas industry, insisting that any amendment to the existing legal framework must pass through the National Assembly.

Osifo argued that an executive order cannot override a law enacted by the National Assembly, describing the move as setting a troubling precedent.

“Yes, that is what should be done from the beginning. You can review the laws of a land. There is no law that is perfect,” he said.

He added that the President should constitute a team to review the PIA, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and forward proposed amendments to lawmakers.

“When you get revenue from PSC, you have to make some deductibles. You deduct royalties. You deduct tax. You also deduct the cost of cost recovery. Once you have done that, you will now have what we call profit oil or profit gas. Then that is where you now deduct the 30 per cent,” he stated..

According to him, when the deductions are properly accounted for, the 30 per cent being referenced translates to about two per cent of total revenue from the production sharing contracts.

“In effect, that deduction is about two per cent of the revenue of the PLCs,” he added, maintaining that the explanation presented in the public domain did not accurately reflect the structure of the deductions.

Osifo warned that removing the affected portion of the revenue could have operational implications for NNPC Ltd, noting that the funds are used to meet salary obligations and other internal expenses.

“That two per cent is what NNPC uses to pay salaries and meet some of its obligations.The one you are also removing from the midstream and downstream, it is part of what they use in meeting their internal obligations. So as you are removing this, how are they going to pay salaries?” he queried.

Beyond the immediate impact on the company’s workforce, he cautioned that regulatory uncertainty could affect investor confidence in the sector.

“If the international community and investors lose confidence in Nigeria, it has a way of affecting investment. That should be the direction. You don’t put a cow before the horse,” he added.

According to him, stakeholders, including labour unions and industry operators, should be given the opportunity to make inputs at the National Assembly as part of the amendment process saying “That is how laws are refined,”