Reps To Revoke Oil Block Licences

The House of Representatives has said it will revoke oil block licences of operators who did not follow due process in obtaining their licences.

The House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Prospecting Licence and Oil Exploration led by Hon. Gideon Wani spoke yesterday at Idama platform in Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State when the committee visited Belemaoil Producing Limited.

He also said it would support the people of the Niger Delta to be involved in doing business on petroleum products.

He said the Committee on Oil Prospecting Licence and Oil Exploration Licence was inugurated to investigate the licensing of oil companies operating in the country.

He noted that it would be a form of encouragement to retrieve licenses that were not properly obtained by some companies and hand them over to indigenous operators, adding that when such licenses are revoked, they would be given to people from Niger Delta region who have interest oil business.

“We have been mandated by the House of Representatives to investigate all holders of prospecting and exploration licences. We want to know the number of licenses and the number of companies operating with them. We also want to find out if the process of obtaining the licences were followed.

“Niger Deltans have not been doing business on oil. “We want to return some of this oil blocks to the people of this region. This is to allow people of this area to also do business. Belemaoil is in a good business to do this business because it is owned by somebody from the Niger Delta,” Wani said.

Chairman of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Mr. Sukubo Sara-Igbe, thanked the House for supporting the Niger Delta people.

Sara-Igbe said if more opportunities were given to the people of the area to do oil business, the agitations in the region would be tamed.