Engr. Chief Grant Offor

Offor Lauds Wike on Fight against Illegal Oil Refineries

ksmar May 20, 2022 Business Leave a comment 734 Views

An engineer and managing director of Ramec Group of Companies, Engr. (Chief) Grant Offor, has lauded the fight against artisanal oil refinery operators in Rivers State by the governor, Chief (Barr) Nyesom Wike.

Offor made this known while speaking with newsmen at his office in Port Harcourt.

He praised the governor’s will power and courage to fight the illegal oil refinery operators, especially given the soot and pollution of the environment caused by the refiners, but noted that these illegal refineries are not the only cause of the environmental devastation in the state.

Offor insisted that other harmful practices were also responsible for polluting the environment, and causing soot all over the state.

He however stressed that artisanal oil refinery operators are the major players in polluting the environment with soot, thereby causing health hazards to a lot of innocent citizens in the state.

According to him, the fight against illegal oil bunkering activities in the state can never be too late, because of the damaging health effects it has on human beings, noting that it is better late than never;

He further lauded the governor for involving the local council chairmen as partners in the fight against the these illegal oil refinery activities in the state, adding that since they (councils) are in touch with the people at the grassroots, hence are better positioned to arrest these nefarious activities faster.

“The long time effect of soot in our environment is very catastrophic if not arrested now. Soot is carbon-monoxide and dangerous to health; it easily penetrates into the body via inhalation, eyes and skin and over time, could cause heart-related diseases and cancer.

“The operators of these illegal refineries are probably ignorant of its health hazard to themselves and people around them. So I suggest the state government could embark on adequate publicity to create awareness.

“Nowadays, if you visit any hospital within the state, you notice that a lot of young women are having miscarriages, while men are suffering from bronchitis and heart-related diseases. All these are concomitant effects of massive inhalation of soot unknown to some of them, especially in the rural areas.

“The operators are not free from these diseases. So what is the point making a lot of money and at long run, it is used for health treatment.

“Recently, a friend of mine, took his mother to the United States of America (USA) for proper treatment. While there, the doctor diagnosed her and discovered that her heart and lungs were filled with black related smoky particles and asked if she has been a heavy smoker, which the woman replied in negative. But after investigation, it was discovered that she had probably inhaled a lot of soot particles unknown to her.

“Therefore to tackle these bunkering activities in the state and achieve relative permanent result, I suggest that the state government should involve the military particularly the Airforce.

“The Airforce could use their jets to carry out surveillance to locate the various illegal bunkering sites and follow it up with nonstop and continuous bombardment. With this; the operators would abandon the business and go in for legitimate business,” he said.

Share Post on

Tags

Check Also

Make Methane Reduction a Business Priority, NLNG’s Falade urges Gas Industry

... Says Monetisation Initiative Cut Nigeria’s Gas Flaring from 65% to 20%  By Paul Williams   NLNG has urged the global gas industry to make methane reduction a business priority, adding that every tonne of methane released into the atmosphere represents lost revenue and gas that could otherwise reach the market.  The company said its experience shows that investment in reducing these losses can pay for itself while cutting emissions and improving plant efficiency.  Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Mr Adeleye Falade, made the call at Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok during a panel titled “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains.”  He said the NLNG approach starts with measuring methane losses and using the findings to guide investment in leak prevention and gas recovery, with independent verification to ensure credible reporting.  Falade said the industry needed to shift the conversation from the cost of methane reduction to the value it creates, recognising that preventing gas losses serves both commercial and environmental objectives.  “Every tonne emitted is lost product, lost revenue and lost energy; gas we could have sold. Every molecule of methane avoided is both an emissions reduction and a recovered energy resource,” he said.  He cited NLNG’s new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery project as examples of investments that support this approach. Each project targets methane reductions of approximately 10–15 per cent, and both have positive projected net present values, meaning their anticipated financial benefits exceed their costs over the life of the projects.  Falade said, “The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves. The same discipline that reduces methane also improves asset reliability and plant efficiency. The returns show up in more places than the emissions ledger.”  He explained that credible measurement underpins NLNG’s investment decisions, which allows the company to identify methane losses, direct resources to the right interventions and assess the results.  He noted that NLNG’s experience demonstrates that gas producers in developing economies can establish globally trusted emissions-reporting systems by investing in monitoring infrastructure, building reporting capabilities and submitting their data to independent scrutiny.  Falade highlighted NLNG’s Gold Standard recognition under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 and said the company was the first in Africa to achieve Level 5 methane emissions reporting.  He added that its measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system is independently assured by DNV in accordance with ISO 14064.  NLNG’s approach includes site-wide optical gas imaging, a structured Leak Detection and Repair programme, and the phased deployment of continuous monitoring and real-time dashboards across its plant and vessels.  …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Powered & Designed by SuccessTrend Web
© Copyright 2017 - 2026 PhMundial, All Rights Reserved