Oil & Energy
Increased Oil and Gas: Stakeholders Urge Expansion Of PINL Scope
Following the sustained record of increased oil and gas production in recent times, stakeholders from pipeline and crude oil host communities have urged the Federal Government to expand the security contract of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL).
The stakeholders who gave the urge while speaking at the September Engagement, held in PortHarcourt, last Thursday, attributed the increased output in oil and gas production to the positive impact of PINL on oil and gas host communities
President-General, Orashi People’s Congress, Emeni Ibe, expressed happiness with PINL saying “Our people which includes Abua/Odual, Ahoada East and West, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni have asked me to convey their gratitude for regularly holding this stakeholders meeting”.
“Our area is criss-crossed with several oil pipelines and in the campaign against vandalism, we have agreed to partner with the PINL.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to provide more funds to the company. We are pleased with their trainings and their scholarship for our youths. This is what we are expecting and if these things are done, pipeline vandalism will be a thing of the past.
“PINL is changing the narratives in our area so I join others to pass a vote of confidence on PINL”, Ibe said.
Also speaking, an indigene of Soku, community, Ajenkebiokpomaa Orlu, said his people want the federal government to include the community in the scope of job covered by PINL.
“We have been hearing about PINL in Rivers State and other neighboring communities but it’s like a surprise to us because Soku as a major player in the ooo and gas sector, we are not part of their operations. We are supposed to be part of it as major oil bearing community with the largest gas plant in West Africa and other oil facilities.
“I’m here to tell Federal Government, NNPCL and PINL to include Soku community in their scope of job and mostly for the Federal Government to expand PINL’s scope of work in the area to include Soku oilfield.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the engagement, the General Manager, Community Relations and Stakeholders Engagement, Dr. Akpos Mezeh, explained that Soku Tombia, Rumuji, Ogba, Abha, Gbarain are all host to gas lines “and we have engaged workers from those communities to help go secure the lines”.
He expressed hopes that the Federal Government would expedite action in expanding PINL’s contract to cover those areas.
Mezeh stated; “Soku is a major oil and gas host community and by virtue of the fact that our current contract on TNP does not cover Soku, we’ve been able to cover them based on the limited resources we have and so far we’ve been doing wonderfully well there courtesy of the support we get from the community and there has been no incident of vandalism in Soku.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to expedite action on the formalising the expansion that we are already doing to cover the areas outside our primary mandate.
“We have Soku, Tombia, Rumuji, Ogba, Abha, Gbarain which host gas lines and we have engaged workers from those communities to help go secure the lines and so we hope that the Federal Government would expedite action in expanding our contract to cover those areas.
“We have expanded our operations into gas and we are into the sixth month and the results is clear and from the report of NUPRC, gas production has increased.
“We’ve done a lot to ensure that gas facilities are given adequate protection. We have engaged more workers from the communities where gas lines are criss-crossing and although that’s not our primary area of responsibility but we are doing that as a duty call to ensure that we support the Federal Government and that’s why we are calling on the Federal Government to formalise the work that we are already doing”.