N’Assembly plans tighter laws to tackle crude oil theft
Ilenre Irẹlẹ
The National Assembly has given support to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s current bid to bolster crude oil production and grow its reserves, saying it will consider stiffer consequences for crude oil thieves and vandals of the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.
In a statement on Tuesday by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soney after the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) paid an oversight visit to the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services , an upstream arm of the NNPC Ltd, at its headquarters in Lagos, jointly led by the Committee Chairmen from both chambers, Senator Eteng Williams and Alhassan Doguwa, described the menace of crude oil theft and vandalism of critical oil and gas infrastructure as major challenges to Nigeria’s revenue generation and budget targets, which must be tackled.
Williams said: “It is imperative for the National Assembly to come up with legislative action that will help stop crude oil theft and increase Nigeria’s crude oil production.
“What we found at NUIMS, it is duty-bound on the legislature to come up with decisive measures that will help the government to achieve its set targets in the oil and gas sector.”
On his part, Alhassan Doguwa said by virtue of their duties as aa legislature, the lawmakers will fast-track the strengthening of a legislative framework to be able to check the excesses bedevilling the nation’s oil and gas sector.
Doguwa, who commended NNPC Ltd’s efforts for its industry-wide security collaboration against the nation’s hydrocarbon infrastructure said more needs to be done to ensure the Company increases Nigeria’s crude oil production and grows its reserves.
