Nigeria runs out of crude, refineries shut

• From Madu Onuorah, Terhemba Daka (Abuja), Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt), Willie Etim (Yenagoa), Taiwo Hassan and Blessing Eghagha (Lagos)

NOW the chicken has come to roost. The effects of the militancy in the Niger Delta and the Federal Government's clampdown on them have shaken the foundation of the oil and gas industry.

Yesterday, the government admitted that it had no more crude for its refineries to process for local consumption.

Consequently, the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries have been shut. The Kaduna Refinery, though functioning, has no crude to process because the Warri plant, which feeds it is shut due to a damage to major pipelines. The only stock, which was reserved, will be exhausted in the next 15 days, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday.

The corporation's Group Managing Director (GMD), Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, who painted the pathetic picture of the industry, said in the next 15 days, it will run out of crude for domestic consumption.

The corporation attributed the development to the crisis in the Niger Delta, which has escalated since the government scaled up a military offensive against the militants in the region.

In retaliation, the militants have intensified their sabotage of the activities of oil firms in the zone. In the last three weeks, the militants have struck four times, destroying facilities belonging to Shell, Chevron and Agip, which are joint venture partners with the government.

Apparently to keep his peace overtures to the militants on course, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday ordered the immediate release of Asari-Dokubo, who was held in Lagos on Tuesday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The State Security Services (SSS), which detained Dokubo, promptly freed him. Asari-Dokubo yesterday in Lagos addressed a press conference, where he picked holes in amnesty being offered the militants by the President.

There were also speculations yesterday that the proposed amnesty would only last for 60 days, after which the government would close the door against recalcitrant armed men.

Barkindo raised the alarm on the depleting stock of crude during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Niger Delta crisis, chaired by Abdul Ningi.

Represented by his Assistant General Manager, Technical, Gabby Meheux, Barkindo said since the starting of the military operations in the region, there had been an escalation of militant activities targeting Shell, Chevron and Agip companies with attendant pipelines destruction.

He disclosed that as at last Friday, the average production output from its JVC stood at only 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), adding that the Port Harcourt and the Warri refineries had both ran out of crude and were shut down as a result of the damages on the Nembe-Port Harcourt and Escravos-Chanomi pipelines.

According to him, the damage of the pipeline feeding Warri means no supplies to Kaduna refinery, hence the resort to the use of already stored crude, which is expected to run out in 15 days.

"Yes, what we currently have now will last for 15 days and after that it will finish. The consequence is that no refining would take place and no product would be available from Kaduna because the pipeline that would have supplied crude to Kaduna was vandalised and until it is repaired, we cannot pump crude," he explained.

Also, the Director, Chevron/NNPC Joint Venture, Supo Shadiya, said his company has incurred more losses than ever since the beginning of last May 13 military operations in the area.

He said there had been escalated attacks and sabotages on its facilities, adding that "since May 16 till date, we have lost one-third of our production capacity in West Africa and that is about 105, 000 bpd.

Shadiya said most of the pipelines exporting crude and gas from their off-shore to on-shore bases have been sabotaged, resulting to stoppage of crude transportation through them. He added that the firm's wells in MKB-5 and Apiteye-1 have been vandalised while fire had been raging in the latter since June 13 till date because the integrity of the well was affected.

"We have not been able to put off the fire because we cannot. The integrity of the well has been compromised and we don't have the facility to control it. So, we have brought in two well fire control specialists from abroad and they are still studying the fire to come up with a solution on how to put it off," he stated.

The representative of the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Oriseh Agbarah, told the lawmakers that his company, which produces about 350, 000 bpd before the May military action now produces below 200, 000. "We are doing less than 30,000 from the whole of Delta region," he added.

The lawmakers took turns in blaming the NNPC for failing to collaborate with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the provision of relief materials to the people in the crisis area.

Abdul Ningi particularly frowned at the non-commitment of NNPC and the multinationals to humanitarian issues in the area since the military operations started.

And as the nation awaits Yar'Adua's pronouncement on the amnesty package, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has said its senior commanders, Farah Dagogo, Boyloaf and Soboma George did not participate in the talks with the Federal Government in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

But the Presidential Committee on Peace and Conflict in the Niger Delta and the Niger Delta Technical Committee have expressed optimism that the President's address would address some of the core issues that necessitated militancy in the Niger Delta.

The Minister of Interior, Maj.-Gen. Godwin Abbe, the Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, Assistant Inspector-General of Police for Zone 6, Joel Udah and the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Bala Hassan, had on Tuesday met with lawyers allegedly representing MEND commanders, including the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, Ateke Tom, on the issue.

MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said the group is waiting for what Yar'Adua has to offer in his expected address to the nation today before responding accordingly.

The Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Peace and Conflict, Kingsley Kuku, told The Guardian yesterday that the presidential address would pave way to lasting peace with the conditions that would be attached to the amnesty programme.

Kuku said the President is likely to mention some prominent names for amnesty, which should make the people of the region appreciate the attached goodwill.

Similarly, the Chairman of the Niger Delta Technical Committee, Ledum Mitee, told The Guardian that he expects Yar'Adua to come out with a holistic package that will not only address the issue of militancy and amnesty but also some of the fundamental issues that give excuse for militancy.

He said: "The Niger Delta problem forms the basis for arms struggle and so it has to be addressed. We must address the issue of proliferation of arms, re-integration without losing sight of the fact that we cannot create the impression that only those who have taken to arms can be rewarded. Justice is the issue."

Agency report had it yesterday that President Yar'Adua may propose a 60-day amnesty for the militants.

This move, according to a Presidency source, is aimed at enabling the government to work with those who are sincere about peace in the region.

"All militants, who respond positively to the amnesty proclamation should ... receive presidential pardon and thus become immune to criminal prosecution," the official said.

Asari-Dokubo has scoffed at the amnesty offer, saying "it is the people of Niger Delta that ought to offer amnesty to the Federal Government of Nigeria for years of occupation, environmental degradation" and other economic hardship that had brought "poverty to the entire Niger Delta."

At a press conference in Lagos immediately after he was released by the SSS, Asari-Dokubo said that the amnesty offer would only be accepted by those whose means of livelihood had been severely affected by the offensive of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta.

"Those of us, who are committed to the genuine struggle for resource control, greater participation of our people in the oil industry, will never accept any form of amnesty from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What we want is a Sovereign National Conference, a level-playing field. The fundamental issue to the "Ijaw nation in contemporary Nigeria is all about our sovereignty and nationhood," he said.

Ijaw Elders and Leaders Forum have also called on Yar'Adua to make public the supposed list of persons behind illegal bunkering in the region.

In a nine-point communique signed by elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark and 11 others, the forum reiterated its earlier position that the continued presence of the military in the Niger Delta region serves more of their personal interests and a direct effect on the increased illegal bunkering activities.

The Ijaw leaders condemned the continued presence of the military "occupation" force in Ijaw land, particularly in the devastated Gbaramatu Kingdom and called for the immediate demilitarisation of the territory.