FRI 08 MAR 2013 The Guardian Nigeria

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TheGuardian ‘Why licensed oil blocks can’t operate’ Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Friday, March 8, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,489

By Roseline Okere IGHT years after some oilE prospecting companies were issued licences, they are

still finding it difficult to begin operations due to encumbrances such as paucity of funds, inability to perfect documents, marginality of re-

serve and productivity. A document obtained by The Guardian from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) showed that operations of the oil blocks have delayed take-off due to their inability to access funds, difficulty in agreeing to operational synergies with original

International Oil Companies (IOCs), the increasing cost of labour, goods and service, technology limitations and problems. community It was learnt that there are 200 marginal oil fields in the Niger Delta Basin with a maximum reserve base of about five billion barrels of oil.

www.ngrguardiannews.com

In 2004, the Federal Government issued licences to 31 companies to acquire 24 marginal oil fields. But only nine of these fields are into production, according to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Besides, only a few of the 77 oil blocks awarded to oil firms in

2005 have even started production. In a licensing round held in March 2005, Nigeria offered a total of 77 deepwater and inland blocks. The following companies, among others, became equity holders in Nigeria’s oil blocks: Buston Energy Resources Limited, OPL 901;

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Gas Transmission & Power Limited, OPL 905; Afren Global Energy Resources Limited (AGER), OPL 907 and 917; Taleveras - MTM Petroleum SPV, OPL 914; New Nigeria Development Company, 809, 810, 722 and 733; Jevkon Oil CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Debe not known to us as OdumegwuOjukwu’s son, family tells court By Joseph Onyekwere GRANDSON of the late Sir A Louis Ojukwu, founder of Ojukwu Transport Limited (OTL), Lotanna Ojukwu, has countered the prayers of Chief Debe Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the purported first son of the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who is seeking the leave of court to enforce his fundamental human rights as a member of the family. Lotanna, in a 22-paragraph affidavit deposed to before a Federal High Court in Lagos stated that Debe was never a grandson of Sir Lious Ojukwu. “The applicant, to the best of my knowledge, as well as to the Ojukwu family, is not and has never been a grandchild of the late Sir L.P.O. Ojukwu”, he swore, stressing that all the respondents did know him as a son of Emeka Odumegwu-

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President Goodluck Jonathan (right) and Borno State Govenor Kashim Shettima, during the President’s visit to Maiduguri, Borno State… yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

Jonathan in Borno, says govt can’t grant Boko Haram amnesty now From Saxone Akhaine (Northern Bureau Chief) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri) RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan has declared that the Federal Government can-

not discuss amnesty with Boko Haram now unless its members clearly identify themselves along with their grievances to government. He said it was not possible to grant amnesty to ghosts. Jonathan made the declaration yesterday at a stakeholders’ meeting at the

• North East seeks N100 billion rehabilitation scheme • Belgore, others blame foreign interests for insecurity Government House, Damaturu, during his one-day working visit to Yobe State. Besides, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alfa Belgore (rtd), Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam and other prominent north-

erners have identified the influence of foreign interests as responsible for the insecurity in the North. They alleged that Boko Haram was receiving external support to destabilise Nigeria. At the meeting with Jonathan,

the stakeholders, comprising top government officials, members of the National and State Houses of Assembly, elder statesmen, traders and community leaders, also urged the Federal Government to launch a N100 billion

Boko Haram Rehabilitation and Reform (BHRR) programme and oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin, and bring an end to an alleged Federal Government’s marginalisation of the North-East sub-region since 1960.

Senators end row, okay PIB for second reading – Page 5

On the amnesty for Boko Haram members, Jonathan said: “You cannot declare amnesty for ghosts. Boko Haram is still operating as a ghost. You don’t see the person. I am from the Niger Delta and I know the amnesty that has been declared by the President while I was the vice president. “But even some of these names you hear like John Dakubo, when I was deputy governor of Bayelsa… I came for a meeting with President

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