Nigeria DPR Debunks Claims of Crude Oil Discovery in Kuje

NNPC Headquarters

Chineme Okafor

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has officially rested claims of fresh crude oil discovery at a site within Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The DPR which is statutorily vested with such responsibilities, said at a sensitisation drive yesterday in Kuje that the alleged oil discovery was erroneous.

The rumour of crude oil discovery at Gade in Kuje came to the fore on January 7, 2013; DPR accordingly commenced immediate analysis of the site to determine the authenticity of the claim.

It however explained that its statutory analysis of the site disclosed that the discovery was a mistaken spillage of petroleum products from an underground storage tank which had contaminated water wells in Gade.
DPR said that it had become necessary to dispel such rumoured discovery which was widely reported in the media considering the impact of the spill to the health of the community.

According to the Director of DPR, Osten Olorunsola, who was represented by an official of DPR Abuja zonal office, Samuel Waplang, the agency had also initiated measures to forestall possible fire outbreak at the spill site.

Olorunsola said: “This campaign, although targeted at residents of Kuje area council, is an ongoing programme aimed at enlightening Nigerians on the safety implications inherent in mishandling of hydrocarbon substances and its spills.

Recently, the incidence of contaminated well water at Gade in Kuje was widely reported by several national newspapers. The erroneous impression that made the round was that crude oil was discovered in Kuje, but for the intervention of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Police and other local vigilante, we would have had a messy situation in our hands.”

He further explained: “Towards ascertaining the true situation of things, staff of the DPR Abuja zonal office conducted several statutory investigations. Arising from the foregoing, it became expedient to carry out this awareness to sensitise the residents on the dangers of hydrocarbon spills as well as the laws and regulation regarding safety in the oil and gas industry.”

The DPR also noted that Kuje has become notorious for harbouring unregistered dealers in petroleum products.

It disclosed that most underground and surface storage tanks used for petroleum products in Kuje were not registered with it and as such it will demand for immediate legal propriety in conduct of oil trade in the community.

The NSCDC also pledged its commitment to the security of petroleum assets of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC). It noted that encroachments on the Right of Way (RoW) of NNPC/PPMC pipelines in the community will be frustrated by it.

Meanwhile, the NNPC has said that ongoing debates by legislators on the contents of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the National Assembly is expected.

An official of the corporation who would not want to be mentioned in the paper explained that the debate is part of legislative processes involved in the passage of bills by the parliament. They noted that the executive arm of government would prefer to stay clear of such debates without undue interference.

According to the official, what is paramount to the executive remains the eventual passage of the bill.

Recall that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke had last month at the 13th Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG-13) conference disclosed that the ministry had initiated a hybrid technical team to expound the contents of the bill in line with the transitional stages of reforms in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.