BAYELSA DEMANDS JOINT OWNERSHIP OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES,BAYELSA DEMANDS JOINT OWNERSHIP OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES,
Bayelsa State Government has advocated for inclusion of joint ownership of petroleum resources in the long awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the National Assembly.
The State Commissioner for Energy, Bar. Francis Ikio advocated this while presenting the State Government's position on the bill, to a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.He stated on behalf of the Government that section two of the proposedbill, which vests ownership rights entirely on the Federal Government, does
not recognize the customary rights of the host communities and the host
states bearing the crude oil and gas, hence the section should be recoined
to accord joint ownership rights to the Federal Government, host states and
host communities.
Bayelsa government has also opposed section 3 of the bill, which gives
exclusive powers to the Federal Government to allocate revenues derived
from petroleum resources to the other tiers of government, arguing that the
Federal Government cannot have power to allocate revenues from resources
naturally deposited in the host states and host communities. It therefore,
demanded that the said section should be expunged.
On environment, the State Government has expressed reservation about the
inadequacy of provisions that will lead to effective legal framework to
manage degradation of the environment, including communal participation,
regretting also that the bill has no provision to remediate the
environment, which has been devastated more than five decades ago, without
proper management.
Thus, the Government has demanded that section 200(5) and section 202 (1)
of the bill, should be amended to include consultation of host communities
to ascertain the environmental plan of companies before they are granted
license for exploration of crude oil and gas.
Speaking further on environmental damage, Bar. Ikio said the position of
the Bayelsa State government is that, September 30, 2014 should be
stipulated as the deadline to end gas flare in the oil producing
communities.
Learning lesson from the Federal Government's delay in compensating Ogoni
as ruled by the International Court of Justice in Hague, the Bayelsa
Government has called for full adoption of the Hydrocarbon Pollution
Restoration Project (HYPREP) and the United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) in petroleum pollution sites in impacted communities.
It equally demanded for a Federal for section in the bill to compel oil and gas companies to
locate their head offices at their host states, deploring that for more
than five decades, multinational oil and gas companies were yet to site
headquarters in Bayelsa, which has sustained the industry with large oil
and gas supplies.
Earlier, the State Government, urged the National Assembly to consult
widely at the grassroots, where the impact of oil and gas exploration is
worst in order to get more inputs before the bill is passed into law.
The commissioner stated that the demand by the state was imperative,
because the extant Petroleum Act of 1969, which was enacted by the
military, without inputs from the people, was one of the major causes of
the deprivation and underdevelopment of the Niger delta region.
Bayelsa State Government has advocated for inclusion of joint ownership of petroleum resources in the long awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the National Assembly.
The State Commissioner for Energy, Bar. Francis Ikio advocated this while presenting the State Government's position on the bill, to a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.He stated on behalf of the Government that section two of the proposedbill, which vests ownership rights entirely on the Federal Government, does
not recognize the customary rights of the host communities and the host
states bearing the crude oil and gas, hence the section should be recoined
to accord joint ownership rights to the Federal Government, host states and
host communities.
Bayelsa government has also opposed section 3 of the bill, which gives
exclusive powers to the Federal Government to allocate revenues derived
from petroleum resources to the other tiers of government, arguing that the
Federal Government cannot have power to allocate revenues from resources
naturally deposited in the host states and host communities. It therefore,
demanded that the said section should be expunged.
On environment, the State Government has expressed reservation about the
inadequacy of provisions that will lead to effective legal framework to
manage degradation of the environment, including communal participation,
regretting also that the bill has no provision to remediate the
environment, which has been devastated more than five decades ago, without
proper management.
Thus, the Government has demanded that section 200(5) and section 202 (1)
of the bill, should be amended to include consultation of host communities
to ascertain the environmental plan of companies before they are granted
license for exploration of crude oil and gas.
Speaking further on environmental damage, Bar. Ikio said the position of
the Bayelsa State government is that, September 30, 2014 should be
stipulated as the deadline to end gas flare in the oil producing
communities.
Learning lesson from the Federal Government's delay in compensating Ogoni
as ruled by the International Court of Justice in Hague, the Bayelsa
Government has called for full adoption of the Hydrocarbon Pollution
Restoration Project (HYPREP) and the United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) in petroleum pollution sites in impacted communities.
It equally demanded for a Federal for section in the bill to compel oil and gas companies to
locate their head offices at their host states, deploring that for more
than five decades, multinational oil and gas companies were yet to site
headquarters in Bayelsa, which has sustained the industry with large oil
and gas supplies.
Earlier, the State Government, urged the National Assembly to consult
widely at the grassroots, where the impact of oil and gas exploration is
worst in order to get more inputs before the bill is passed into law.
The commissioner stated that the demand by the state was imperative,
because the extant Petroleum Act of 1969, which was enacted by the
military, without inputs from the people, was one of the major causes of
the deprivation and underdevelopment of the Niger delta region.