Fed Govt moves to settle Oil Well ownership disputes

The Federal Government has begun a major process to settle long-standing questions over which states own newly producing and disputed oil and gas wells.

This is a step that will determine how the constitutionally backed 13 per cent derivation funds are shared among oil-producing states.

 Speaking at the Coordinate Verification Exercise and plotting of crude oil and gas fields/wells in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu said the exercise covers all oil-producing areas, including Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, Rivers, Delta and offshore locations.

 He explained that the law requires that states where minerals are produced must receive 13 percent of the revenue, especially from crude oil and gas. Because of this, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, asked RMAFC to help verify the exact locations of new and disputed oil wells.

 Shehu said the Commission responded by setting up an Interagency Technical Committee made up of NUPRC, the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, the National Boundary Commission and RMAFC itself.

 “The committee was formed in July, and after months of preparation, the team moved into the field around September and October to begin taking physical coordinates of oil and gas wells.

 “I was there myself at the opening ceremony, and we went actually to the field to take those coordinates,” the Chairman said.

 He noted that the work was done alongside the Surveyors-General of all the oil-producing states so that every state could witness the process. According to him, the teams went to difficult places, including the open sea, creeks and deep-water areas, to make sure no location was left out.

 The fieldwork, he said, ended last week, and the next stage is to begin plotting the coordinates using the data collected. This stage, which is expected to take about five days, will help clearly show where each oil well is located and which state is entitled to receive the derivation funds linked to it.

 “There have been traditional disputes between states in terms of who owns what. Whenever new oil fields start producing, they want to know which state actually owns that or which state should get that 13 per cent. We intend to do this fairly, justly and equitably, without any bias,” he said.

 The RMAFC Chairman said the Commission is using advanced equipment, including drones, to capture coordinates in areas that are hard or unsafe to reach physically.