Nigerian commander Remi Fadairo points to the roiling plume of black smoke blotting the morning horizon in the Niger Delta – the unmistakable sign of an illicit oil refinery. “Let’s see if we can go eat them for breakfast,” he says with an ominous chuckle. The 44-year-old colonel, a man with broad shoulders wearing his fatigues tucked into gumboots, is […]
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Sheds N83 billion in one month Nigeria’s crude oil production fell by 156,900 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.269 million bpd in March, from 1.426mbpd recorded in February. Consequently, the country lost its status as Africa’s top oil producer to Angola, according to latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). With the cumulative loss of 4.8 million […]
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Experts fret over petroleum industry outlook To douse tension in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the Federal Government plans to award to indigenes of the region marginal fields’ oil blocks abandoned by the oil majors as being not commercially viable. The plan is in line with the government’s larger objective of reducing major incidents of restiveness to about 90 per cent […]
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The Ondo State Government and the Niger Delta Development Commission yesterday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the neglected Araromi-Akodo-Lekki road. The MOU, which aims at building the road for the purpose of opening up the project for integrated economic development, was signed on behalf of the state government by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Ifedayo Abegunde, […]
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Key stakeholders from the coastal Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, where ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), hails from have met with the Federal Government officials to prepare the ground for participation in the new policy to introduce modular refineries in the Niger Delta. The team from Gbaramatu led by the former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development […]
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said it would support plans by the federal government to formalise illegal crude oil refining operations in the Niger Delta, saying it was part of the antidotes to criminality including militancy in the region. According to the corporation, the government’s decision would take away from the streets of the region, many of its […]
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Scores of women from Iwhre-Nene community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State yesterday blocked a side of the Ughelli axis of the East-West Road in protest over the alleged intimidation and arrest of indigenes of the community by soldiers on a manhunt for members of the Urhobo/Isoko militant group, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate. Operatives of 122 […]
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The Akwa Ibom Police Command has arrested three suspected pipeline vandals from Eket Local Government Area of the State. The state Police Commissioner, Murtala Mani, said that the suspects were arrested in a hotel with improvised explosive devices capable of destroying high pressure oil pipelines. Mani said that other items recovered from the suspects included a battery for igniting explosion, […]
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The Nigerian Navy on Tuesday said it had destroyed more illegal refineries in Delta and Akwa Ibom. The Director of Information, Naval Headquarters, Commodore Christian Ezekobe, in a statement said the navy has continued its crackdown on the activities of illegal crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals. The statement said, “On Aug. 10, a Patrol Team deployed by NNS Jubilee […]
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The Central Naval Command, Yenagoa, on Saturday said it seized a vessel laden with 600,000 litres of suspected illegally refined automotive gas oil also known as diesel. A statement issued by Lt. Cdr Edward Yeibo on behalf of the command’s Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) said that two of the four suspected oil thieves were arrested while loading the barge with […]
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