
Ike Amos
18 August 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Friday, assured that it is highly compliant to global and local environmental standards in its operations.
According to a statement in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, stated this while receiving a delegation of the Nigerian Environmental Society who was at the NNPC for a business meeting.
Baru disclosed that Health Safety and Environment (HSE) was given a major consideration before the Corporation executed the recent spate of multi-billion upstream investment agreements with some of its Joint Venture partners.
He told the delegates, “Be rest assured that if there is just one company that would be environmentally compliant in the industry, it is definitely going to be NNPC.”
He further restated the commitment of the NNPC to the best industry standards in Health, Safety and the Environment, (HSE) noting that the Corporation does not embark on any project without a duly certified Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
He said, “All our projects also go through commissioning and decommissioning and we do it in accordance with prevailing world standards and our environmental practices are inline with the latest International Standard Organization, ISO specification.”
In addition, he appealed to oil pipeline hackers to desist from such nefarious act which according to him is not only harmful to the environment but equally hazardous to the pipeline vandals and the economy.
Baru noted that the ugly incidents of petroleum pipeline pulverization presented a loss-loss scenario for the vandal, the environment and the economy.
Also speaking, National Vice President of the Society commended the NNPC for recent gale of success in the sector especially the signing of alternative funding agreements with JV partners and the re-invigoration of the NNPC Anti-Corruption unit.
Bassey stated that as the foremost environmental society in the country, the NES was willing to forge a symbiotic relations with the Corporation to address all the concerns that comes with the day-day operations in the NNPC in particular and the oil and gas industry in general.