By Adewale Sanyaolu and Steve Agbota

The House of Representatives Committee on Oil and Gas, yesterday threatened to issue warrant of arrest on the Managing Directors of Aiteo Energy, Neconde Energy, Frontier Energy and seven other indigenous oil companies if they failed to appear before it today to account for $250million unremitted funds meant for the Federal Government coffers.

Chairman of the Committee, Jerigbe Agom, who issued the warning at the committee’s sitting on unremitted funds to government’s coffers in Lagos yesterday, lampooned the companies for not showing the keenness to remit the fund.

He also ordered the Managing Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to appear before the committee in Abuja next Tuesday, to explain why Oil Mining Lease (OML) 119 is producing 5000 barrels per day (bpd) despite its capacity to deliver beyond that.

According to him, NPDC which is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has failed to remit $10 million accrued debt in line with the agreement it reached with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

Agom frowned at the attitude of the NPDC boss, who he said, had on many occasions failed to honour the committee’s invitations to explain the infraction.

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He also frowned at the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Maikantu Baru, and his team for treating the committee’s sittings with levity, wondering why the NNPC, whose efforts should be instrumental to government’s drive to block revenue leakage in the oil and gas sector has now turned into a casspit of corruption.

Speaking on ExxonMobil Nigeria’s Gas-To-Liquid project, Agom said that the company’s GTL operations were illegal because it has no licence from DPR, which he said has to be stopped. He noted that the committee has observed the infraction and would not allow the illegality to linger without addressing the situation.

 But, the Managing Director of ExxonMobil while defending its Gas-To-lIquid project, told the panel that he had on several occasions attempted to liaise with the Director of DPR, but was rebuffed, adding that his company would proceed to the arbitration panel for the resolution of the issue.

Deputy Director, Planning, DPR, Folashade Odunuga, said International Oil Companies ((IOCs) have shown deep interest to pay their debts to the government’s coffers, but was constrained by fiscal price disparity.

“Though the NPDC promised to remit $10 million to narrow its debt, but it failed to fulfil its pledge. DPR would play its watchdog role very well in the industry as well as make rigorous moves to block revenue leakages from the nation’s oil and gas sector.

The committee in the meantime gave the IOCS two weeks to tidy every grey areas in the remittance of fund to the federal government.