Page 12 - AfrOil Week 41 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

“[The] petrol subsidy has been a recurring and stop to the subsidies.
controversial public policy issue in our coun- “President Malpass emphasized the impor-
try since the early ‘80s,” Buhari said in his last tance of integrating climate and development,
budget speech before the election, which is set as well as the need for an enabling policy and
to take place on February 25, 2023. “However, regulatory environment alongside strengthened
its current fiscal impact has clearly shown that institutions in the energy sector,” a World Bank
the policy is unsustainable.” statement said.
In September, the World Bank told Nigeria Nigeria’s government has actually committed
that it would be ready to support Abuja in phas- to eliminating the domestic gasoline subsidy as
ing out the policy. required by the terms of the Petroleum Industry
According to David Malpass, the World Act (PIA), which was adopted in August 2021.
Bank’s president, Nigeria should increase social However, it has postponed the deadline for
assistance for the poor and vulnerable and put a doing so by at least 18 months. ™

Nigerian naval officer complains of

IOCs’ complacency in face of oil theft

NIGERIA AGAINST the backdrop of reports that wide- begs the question of whether these investors are
spread theft has drove Nigeria’s oil output to turning a blind eye to oil theft or are somehow
below 1mn barrels per day (bpd) in August complicit in the practice, he indicated.
for the first time in more than 30 years, a naval As an example of this phenomenon, Atakpa
officer has alleged that outside investors are said that the Nigerian Navy had not been able
doing little or nothing to stop the loss of produc- to convince a local subsidiary of Shell (UK) to
tion at wellheads in the Niger River Delta region. respond appropriately to reports of an oil spill-
According to a report from the Daily Trust, age earlier this year.
Commodore Daniel Atakpa, the commander “Seven months ago, we noticed that crude
of the Nigerian naval ship Soroh, told reporters oil was flowing out from an oil head in Okaki.
on October 11 that international oil compa- We notified the oil company that owns it, [the]
nies (IOCs) and multi-national oil companies Shell oil company. Their response is shocking,”
(MOCs) were not responding as expected to he said. “They said they have not noticed it and
reports of spills from wellhead sites. that they are prioritising their operations. If you
Instead of taking action to prevent thieves ask me, what kind of priority is that supposed to
and smugglers from seizing the spilt barrels, be? The navy can only do its part; let every other
Atakpa said, the companies are allowing oil to agency do theirs. As we speak, crude oil is still
be diverted to underground refining operations flowing from the oil head and nothing seems to
and disavowing knowledge of the matter. This have been done to address the situation.”

Atakpa (L) during a visit to the NCDMB in March 2022 (Photo: Twitter/OfficialNCDMB)

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