The President of the Ogoni Socio-Cultural Organisation, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, has raised concern over the loss of 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil as a result of no oil explanation in the area.
Fegalo Nsuke who spoke with Journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday said as a result of the exit of multinational oil companies operating in the area since 1993 the Ogoni communities lost about $40m daily.
He said the people of Ogoni are worried that such a huge quantity of oil and amount are lost as a result of the failure to resolve the lingering crisis between the communities and oil companies operating in the area.
“If we put together the amount of oil lost since the oil wells were capped it is about 500,000 barrels per day and that is estimated to be at $40m daily. Ogoni has about 200 oil wells and of course, the production is not the same because it depends on the penetration of the soil and some areas actually produce quite huge.
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“Ogoni have the capacity to do much more than 500,000 barrels per day and if you put it together and base on the statistics obtained from the NNPC you will be shocked that the Ogonis can do something in the region of 1.5 million barrels per day but conservatively about 500,000 barrel per day and estimated at $40m are lost per day”
“Many of you are fully aware of the present state of affairs in Ogoni and the difficult conditions in which our people live – the extreme unemployment and lack of opportunities, the dearth of infrastructure including schools, roads, healthcare, electricity and so on.
“These very threatening conditions are not different from the situation that prompted the agitation led by MOSOP in 1990 and have been further aggravated by a lack of hope and some seeming failure of leadership to provide a path to a permanent solution.
“Since1993 (some 30 years ago), an estimated proven daily oil production capacity of 500,000 barrels per day has remained confined to the ground, stranded, redundant and undeveloped, while the people of the Ogoni walk that same ground in abject poverty, yet with abundant resources to create tremendous value and wealth trapped under their feet.
“This cruel irony had been due to a myriad of historic conflicts and disagreement with the legacy operator Shell Petroleum Development Company(“SPDC”) the facts of which are well known and documented for posterity.”
He said that the group has commenced constructive engagement, dialogue, and conversations with relevant stakeholders to promote a new orientation geared towards dispute resolution and progressive development of Ogoni.
He said that material progress in reshaping the psyche and orientation of Ogoni people to be resolution-focused, hinged on the sustainable development of the Ogoni Communities.
He called on the government to sincerely accept its proposals and to facilitate the process of a speedy resolution of the lingering conflict concerning oil exploration in the area.
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