Oil & Energy

Ijaw, Ikwerre Youth Unite Against Oil Firms

Published

11 years ago

September 29, 2014

The youths of two major
ethnic groups in Rivers State, Ijaw and Ikwerre, have vowed to forge a common front in fighting against marginalization of their people by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Rivers State in particular and the Niger Delta region at large.
Leadership of the two groups, Ikwerre Youth Council and the Ijaw Youth Council made the vow in Port Harcourt Friday at the formal inauguration of the Eastern Zonal/Clan Executives of the Ijaw Youth Council.
Addressing the press after the formal inauguration; Chairman of IYC Eastern Zone, Comrade Peter Timothy Igbifaa and his Ikwerre Youth Council counterpart, Chinedu Smith, said the two groups have agreed to use one voice to stand against marginalization and exploitation by the oil companies operating in the area.
Smith accused the companies of not only exploiting the people but also instigating Ijaws and Ikwerres against one another, saying the new unity of purpose and love amongst the groups would stamp out such antics of the oil firms.
The Ikwerre youth leader noted that the two ethnic groups are bound in common destiny but that Ijaws were split into states to enable them achieve common goal and expressed regrets that enemies of the groups, including the oil majors were taking undue advantage of the separation to instigate them against one another.
In his own speech, the newly inaugurated Chairman of Ijaw Youths Council, Comrade Peter Timothy Igbifaa said the collaboration between the two youth groups would enhance actualisation of socio-political and economic gains of the state and Niger Delta region.
He commended the entire Ijaw youths and elders council for the confidence reposed in them and “The journew of today has started a new course. I affirm my promise to all who have suffered, become widow, orphans and fatherless, the zone will not let you down,” Igbifaa promised stressing that the vision of economic emancipation as pursued through Kaiama Declaration is still on.
He particularly solicited for the co-operation and continued understanding of the council with the new executive in actualizing set goals.
The IYC boss also commissioned the new zonal secretariat in Port Harcourt.

Chris Oluoh

Transformers donated by the lawmaker representing Oyigbo Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Okechukwu A. Nwaogu.

Oil & Energy

Dangote/NUPENG Feud: Tanker Drivers Disown ‘PTD Elders Forum ‘, Seek Impostors’ Prosecution

Published

18 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Tide

Petroleum Tanker Drivers(PTD), an affiliate union of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers(NUPENG), has disowned a group parading itself as the ‘PTD Elders Forum’ amid a feud with Dangote Refinery.

The drivers from across the Kaduna, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Warri zones, during a Press Briefing, at the Weekend, described members of the said forum as fake impostors with no recognition under PTD or NUPENG constitutions and hired to wreck havoc on the union.

They appealed to security agencies to investigate and prosecute those behind the forum.

Speaking on behalf of Kaduna Zone, Bashir Izalan, said the group was unknown to PTD, stressing that Egbon’s leadership had been transparent and responsive to members’ welfare.

He noted that drivers benefited from union-backed insurance, medical support and intervention in workplace disputes.

Representative of the Lagos Zone, Itanola Abiodun, maintained that the so-called elders were not members of the union, pointing out that every legitimate PTD member belonged to a unit and zone.

He urged the group to identify their units if they were genuine members, insisting that they were “hired hands” out to destabilise the union.

In his words, “Everybody who belongs to a union has a unit and zone where that unit is located. Then, they have the PTD branch. Those units where they claimed they come from do not exist. We in those zones do not know them.

“Their names are not known to us at all. They should mention the units they belong to for discerning minds to vouch for their authenticity.

“They cannot even say the units or zone they belong to. They are not speaking for us. They are impostors, hired to wreak havoc in our union”.

From Port Harcourt Zone, Chukwudi Okafor, dismissed allegations that PTD leadership mismanaged check-off dues and loading fees, clarifying that the funds, contributed by truck owners, are used for drivers’ health insurance and welfare.

He said members were satisfied with how resources are managed, urging the government to support PTD.

Dennis Akore of Warri Zone alleged that the controversy was linked to former PTD members who lost out in the July, last year’s delegates’ conference, claiming that the group was attempting to regain control of the union after being voted out by drivers.

Earlier, NUPENG President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, had also warned against the activities of the “PTD Elders Forum,” describing them as infiltrators working to sow disaffection within the union.

Oil & Energy

GEIL To Unveil $400m Indigenous Crude Oil Terminal in Rivers

Published

18 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Tide

All is now set for the unveiling of the indigenous $400m Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Terminal in Rivers State, billed for Wednesday, October 8, and to be performed by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The facility, developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, located in Ikuru-Town, in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, is the first wholly indigenous onshore terminal built in Nigeria as the last of such facility, the Forcados Terminal, was commissioned back in 1971.

The unveiling would attract top government officials, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and other major stakeholders across the nation’s oil and gas sector.

With the much struggling with declining production, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and rising operational costs in recent years, the Otakikpo Onshore Terminal further underscores the Federal Government’s renewed efforts to restore investor confidence in the nation’s oil sector.

The Executive Director, Legal and Corporate Services, GEIL, Olusegun Ilori, in a Statement, last Thursday, said the terminal aligns with President Tinubu’s drive to boost crude oil production and address Nigeria’s long-standing evacuation challenges.

“This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” Ilori said.

On his part, the Chairman and Chief Executive, GEIL, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the terminal as a “game-changing national infrastructure.”

Adegbulugbe said “What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution, but a pathway for about 40 stranded oil fields to finally contribute to the economy”.

It would be noted that industry operators, over the years, have consistently highlighted evacuation bottlenecks as a major impediment to meeting the Federal Government’s production target of 3m bpd.

The Otakikpo terminal is expected to serve as a lifeline to more than 40 stranded oil fields by providing a reliable evacuation outlet, potentially unlocking millions of barrels of crude previously trapped underground.

With an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to three million barrels, and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, the facility is also projected to reduce production costs for indigenous producers significantly.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu

Oil & Energy

Nigeria’s Oil Boom Meets Its Refining Headache

Published

18 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Tide

Nigeria is pumping more crude and drilling harder than it has in years, thanks to reforms under President Bola Tinubu that are finally coaxing cash back into the upstream. Daily output has climbed to between 1.7 and 1.83 million barrels, while active rigs surged from 31 in January to 50 by mid-year, Minister of State for Petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri told delegates at Africa Energy Week.

The turnaround is pinned on the “Project One Million Barrels” initiative and the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act, which the government insists has created a predictable playing field for investors. Lokpobiri pointed to over $5.5 billion in fresh investment decisions tied to asset divestments by IOCs—moves he said are adding some 200,000 bpd to national production. Nigeria, he declared, is “open for business.”

But problems persist downstream. The country’s crown jewel refinery—Aliko Dangote’s $20 billion, 650,000-bpd plant in Lagos—is mired in strikes, sabotage claims, and financial headaches. Earlier this week, Nigeria’s top oil union launched a nationwide walkout after 800 refinery workers were sacked for alleged “acts of sabotage.”

Dangote insists he’s rooting out bad actors; unions say he’s firing organizers. The strike has already shuttered offices at NNPC and key regulators, raising fears it could spill over into production if not resolved.

Even before the labor brawl, the refinery was under pressure. Dangote has admitted to reselling crude cargoes and halting local fuel sales as currency distortions made operations unprofitable.

Buying crude in dollars and selling fuel in a weakening naira is a recipe for red ink, and calls for government-backed import bans have underscored just how fragile the model is.

Nigeria’s oil reforms may be luring rigs back to the delta, but if its refining dream continues to falter, the paradox remains: a top global crude exporter still at risk of shortages at home.

By Julianne Geiger