A group under the aegis of the Niger Delta Community Youths Association based in Bayelsa, Akwa-Ibom, Edo, Rivers, Cross-River, Delta, Imo, Abia, and Ondo States, has expressed strong objection to the recent allocation of oil block licences to corporate entities and individuals who are not indigenes of the Niger Delta.
This was in reaction to the recent award of oil blocs to winners in the 2024 licensing bid round by the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
This position is in tandem with a petition addressed to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, through a lawyer, Blessing Agbomhere of Blessing Agbomhere and Partners, a legal counsel to some aggrieved Niger Delta investors, who are demanding an immediate reversal of the 2022/23 mini bid round and 2024 licensing round for oil blocs in the Niger Delta region.
The Niger Delta community youths who are leading protests in Yenagoa, Uyo, Benin-City, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Owerri, Umuahia, Akure, and Abuja are calling for a fresh licensing bid that would ensure that 40 per cent of Nigeria’s oil blocks are allocated to investors that are indigenous to the Niger Delta region.
A statement jointly signed by the youth leader of the association, Mr. Embale Jonathan; his deputy, Hon. Omeizah Ogumah; the PRO, Boma Doreye; and ex-officio, Sunny Ifijen, asserted that it is unacceptable that their ancestral lands, which have been ravaged and degraded by oil exploration, are being handed over to outsiders.
It read in parts, “The recent barefaced demeaning pattern of allocating oil-prospecting licenses to non-Niger-Delta interests is an unacceptable, unjustifiable, and anti-developmental trend of a high-wired plot against the people of Niger Delta.
“The action of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is deviant to the intent and spirit of the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act, which recognises indigenous interests in the oil and gas industry. Hence, such non-inclusion of indigenous interests signals exclusion and non-transparency that will be counter-productive for the oil and gas industry and the entire nation.”
“As indigenous people of the Niger Delta region, we have been historically marginalised, exploited, and excluded by the oil and gas industry. Our communities have suffered environmental degradation, pollution, and health hazards due to the activities of oil and gas companies. Yet, we receive a pittance in benefits from both the government and internal oil companies.”
The group issued a three-point demand that includes: “Immediate review of the oil-prospecting licenses to reflect at least 40 per cent of the number of oil blocks for indigenes of the Niger Delta; a review of the commitment of oil bloc owners to environmental remediation of polluted waters and lands and provide compensation to affected communities; an enforcement of compliance in corporate social responsibility of licensed oil block owners, especially in employment, training programmes, and support for local business in the region.”
It urged the Senate and other necessary agencies to take the demands seriously and work towards a more equitable and just society for all Nigerians.
Saturday PUNCH recalls that the last bid round ended on December 18 when winners of the oil blocks emerged.
In the final result, SIFAX & RoyalGate Consortium won PPL 300-DO; OceanGate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd won PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007; Homeland Integrated won PPL 304-DO; Hakilat Oil & Gas Consortium Ltd defeated NNPC E&P to clinch PPL 305-DO; BISWAL Oil & Gas Ltd also defeated NNPC E&P to win PPL 306-DO.
After having a tie, MRS Oil & Gas later defeated NNPC E&P to win PPL 303-DO.
Similarly, Petroli Energy Marketing and Supply Ltd got PPL 269; Sahara Deepwater Resources Ltd won both PPL 270 and PPL 271; Panout Oil & Gas beat TotalEnergies and three other bidders to secure PPL 300/301 CS. Panout also claimed PPL 3015.
In the same vein, TotalEnergies E&P won PPL 2000/2001.
As sole bidders, BISWAL won PPL 2002; First E&P has PPL 2003 and PPL 2006; Deywayles International Limited secured PPL 2004; Applefield Oil & Gas got PPL 2005; R28 Holdings Ltd won PPL 2007 and PPL 3011; Tulcan Energy E&P won PPL 2008 and 3012; Broron Energy secured PPL 2009; Hakilat Oil & Gas claimed PPL 3016; and Applefield Oil & Gas won PPL 3017.
The NUPRC announced that there would be another bid round this year.