Revealed: Why Bonga Oil Field Was Easy Target
•Oil companies want greater community ownership of oil assets
From Stanley Nkwazema in Abuja, 06.24.2008
The House of Representatives was yesterday stunned to discover that the Bonga Oil Field, the biggest offshore oil platform in the country, had no radar but a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV).
It also discovered that the Naval Patrol Boats that were supposed to be stationed in the area were withdrawn for the Nigerian Navy Sea Exercise, which started over the weekend.
This was revealed to members of the House Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) and House Speaker ‘Dimeji Bankole during a closed-door meeting with National Security Adviser (NSA) Sarki Muktar, Chief of Defence Staff Major-General T. Kwache, Minister of Defence Yayale Ahmed and chief executives of oil companies in Abuja.
A member of the House who confirmed the story to THISDAY yesterday evening, said the members were worried that the patrol boats stationed in the Bonga Platform were withdrawn for the Sea Exercise being conducted by the Eastern Naval Command such a facility that produces about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s Crude for Export, forgetting the volatile nature of the area.
The Navy had confirmed that the Exercise tagged Exercise Sentry, by the Eastern Naval Command, would hold for three days to cover the country’s territorial waters from Bayelsa to the boundary with Cameroon.
The members who spoke yesterday said it was embarrassing to note that such a facility had no radar and a security back up but a CCTV which made the multi billion dollar facility an easy prey to the Niger Delta Militants.
Chairman of the Committee Tam Brisibe while addressing both the oil chiefs and the Federal Government officials at the meeting said: “In as much as the security of the sector is important, the implication is not that it was successful, but we are worried that if a facility offshore can be attacked by groups within Nigeria, without being apprehended, how do we know the reaction if the attack is from foreign forces?”
“We are worried that several reports are written and put away. We don’t want that to happen with the information we get here today.”
Speaking after the meeting with the service chiefs, Brisibe explained that in spite of last week’s attack, Bonga field oil facility was intact as the invading militants were denied entry before they could blow up the place.
The committee chairman while quoting from the report submitted to the committee by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) stated that “the Floating Production Storage Operating Vehicle (FPSO) was reported to have been put into a lockdown mode making it impossible for the assailant to gain assess.
“There was no damage. They shut down the facility. As soon as the attack was known, they shut down the facility,” he said.
The classified security Information from DPR claimed that the attackers, who were said to have gone to Bonga in three boats, boarded one of the support vessels in the area and subsequently attempted to get on board the FPSO.
“However, the FPSO was reported to have been put into a lock down mode making it impossible for the assailants to gain access unto the FPSO”
The report equally claimed that “as a precautionary measure, production from the FPSO was stopped, all other associated activities in the field shut down and the two drilling rigs operating in the area (Sedco 702 and Sedco 709) also locked down, while surveillance continued.”
While commenting on the purpose of the meeting, Brisibe said the Minister of Defence would soon present a report on the incident where he would outline how the attack was carried out and the security measures to be put in place in order to avoid a re-occurrence.
“From the meeting we had with the security operatives, they told us that they themselves had been gathering information on what happened and there is a report that would be presented on the incident,” he said.
Brisibe who also commented on the meeting with the oil companies said: “We asked them about their own internal security arrangement and the arrangement they have with the Nigerian security forces.”
“In our discussion, we also talked briefly about what they feel ought to be done and part of the solution some of them are thinking of is the fact that there definitely have to be increased and active participation of persons from the host communities in terms of what we call local content.”
“Not just local content, they feel exactly that one thing that we should be aiming for is active ownership of the assets in the oil industry as much as it is practicable by persons from organisations in the host communities.”
“You would all agree that the event of last Thursday is not what anybody can and will take lightly. The security implications are there, “ he said.
The issues of the Niger Delta are also there because we might actually not be able to deal with the security situation if we do not deal with the issues of the Niger Delta,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, oil companies operating in the area are however advocating host communities involvement in exploration activities through greater ownership of the oil assets as a way of preventing future attack on oil facilities.
The committee expressed its determination to ensure that whatever was decided in the series of meetings it planned with security operatives and oil companies would be backed up by presidential action.
