Minister Tasks Communities On Protection Of Oil Facilities

Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has called on communities to ensure the protection of oil facilities in their areas.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja recently by Mr Fidel Pepple, acting Group General Manager; Public Affairs Division of NNPC.
The statement said Alison-Madueke made the call at Okrika, Rivers, while launching the Okrika jetty.
She specifically urged leaders and people of Okrika community to see oil facilities in their domain as theirs and protect them from vandals.

Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has called on communities to ensure the protection of oil facilities in their areas.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja recently by Mr Fidel Pepple, acting Group General Manager; Public Affairs Division of NNPC.
The statement said Alison-Madueke made the call at Okrika, Rivers, while launching the Okrika jetty.
She specifically urged leaders and people of Okrika community to see oil facilities in their domain as theirs and protect them from vandals.
The minister said the Okrika `Jetty B’ had immense economic benefits for the community and the entire nation, adding that it guaranteed the evacuation of 50 per cent of petroleum products from the Port Harcourt refinery.
Alison-Madueke said the jetty could take up to 35,000 tonnes of products such as Automated Gas Oil (AGO), Fuel Oil, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and even Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) from the refinery.
She reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries to reduce the importation of petroleum products.
“Without complementary facilities like the Okrika jetty, it will not be possible for the refineries to produce at optimal capacity as they will have evacuation challenges.’’
Alison-Madueke expressed joy about the Okrika jetty project, saying it would reinforce the administration's belief in local content.
The minister added that the entire rehabilitation and upgrade of the jetty was handled by a local company.
The jetty, which was originally built to load products from the Port Harcourt refinery, had been reconfigured to receive imported products.
The refinery also pumps the imported products to the South-Eastern zone depots in Aba and Enugu up to Minna and Gombe through the System 2E and 2EX Pipeline network.
It will be recalled that in 2006, a fire caused by vandals scooping fuel from a vandalised pipeline burnt up the jetty.
The fire destroyed the entire control systems and several loading arms.