From JIDAUNA YANUNG, Abuja
The Senate has kicked against extractive operational model executed in Nigeria by Chevron, Exxon and other oil companies without manufacturing content as obtained in other countries. The red chamber particularly, lamented that Chevron, apart from crude oil exploration in Saudi Arabia, was also manufacturing polypropylene, one of the waste products from gas, to produce syringes which fetched Saudi Arabia $6billion annually. Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content Development and Monitoring Board(NCDMB), Senator Natasha Akpoti uduaghan (PDP Kogi central) while speaking at a meeting with management of the National Content Development and Monitoring Board in Abuja, noted that Exxon Oil does same in United States of America by making the country the third largest producer of polypropylene.
In the same vein, the National Content Development and Monitoring Board has asked the committee to summon the oil companies for explanations on their extractive mode of operation without manufacturing content. Senator Uduaghan wondered why the same international oil companies exploring crude oil in Nigeria didn’t go to the extra mile of using waste products from crude oil to manufacture the needed products in the country. According to the chairman of the committee, the gap in the operational model of the international oil companies led to the collapse of the Jubilee Syringe plant in Bayelsa due to lack of the needed raw material (polypropylene).
