A’Ibom to acquire marginal oil field

Ini Billie, Uyo

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has said plans are underway for the state to acquire a marginal oil field as a key driver of economic prosperity in the state.

Eno who mentioned that the state has already registered a company for that purpose, said the government was in search of an oil and gas expert to manage and push for the marginal field acquisition.

Eno stated this on Thursday in Uyo during a maiden Ministerial Briefing and End of Year Review of activities in his administration.

The Governor explained that though an Akwa Ibom indigene would be preferred for the job, he won’t hesitate to look beyond the state if he can’t find a capable indigene to take up the role.

“We have the marginal fields in our backyard. Why can’t we get involved? Today in the National Assembly, an Akwa Ibom son is the Chairman of the Solid Mineral Exploration Committee in this country.

“We have an Akwa Ibom son as a Minister in the oil and gas sector. So why can’t we take advantage of telling these individuals to help us? This is something we need to do, one area we need to take advantage. We have the marginal field in our homes,” he stated.

Regarding the management expert to serve as Managing Director, Eno said, “We will take him for 12 months. He should be someone who knows what is involved. Somebody who can go to Abuja and make things happen.

“We will take him, put him for 12 months, If he cannot give us the marginal field, we sack him. We are not pretending. So we are looking for a Managing Director to do that for us. It is not a political appointment.

“We need someone capable. If we cannot find that capable person who is a son or daughter of Akwa Ibom, we will have to go outside to find the right person. Akwa Ibom should have a marginal field then we can now look for experts to come and help us develop it.”

He noted that if a state like Lagos could talk of owning Eko Oil towards going into owning oil fields, Akwa Ibom with much comparative advantage of having the marginal fields across her soil should be more concerned about directly investing in owning oil fields.