Midwestern Oil Company operations shut down in Kwale
The activities of Midwestern Oil and Gas Company has been grounded in Utagba-Ogbe, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State as youths of the community shut down the flare and drilling rig of the company yesterday.
President of Umusadege Youth Forum, Mr Emmanuel Ejechi said the shutting down of the activities of the oil company has become necessary due to the company’s failure to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the company with the community before it started its operations.
According to him, “every day, we see the oil companies, especially Midwestern Oil trucking crude oil out of Kwale, our farmlands are devastated, the soil can no longer sustain agriculture, our rivers are drying up, and yet the companies do not care about us.”
He stated that six blue chip companies: Midwestern Oil and Gas, Energia, Pillar Gas, Agip, Sterling Global and Platform Petroleum produce “over 159 barrels of crude oil per day from our land, and we lack development, we are not feeling the positive effects of these companies in our community.”
Mr Ejechi stated that the closure of Midwestern Oil and Gas Company was a signal to other oil companies operating in the area to implement the MoU they signed with the community, disclosing that the MoU the community signed with Midwestern Oil and Gas was not implemented by the company.
“The company is not ready for negotiation, we are ready to negotiate with them and we shall continue to be peaceful because, we are peace-loving, we only asked the workers to leave their premises and shut down the place, which they did without any violence,” Mr Ejechi said, adding, “we want development, government should come to our aid and make the oil companies to employ our youths and develop our community.”
