The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Tuesday urged oil companies to embrace the standard of disaggregated reporting on oil spills at project and community levels to ensure that oil spill data is directly linked to the projects from which they occur.
This was contained in a Communiqué issued at the end of the stakeholder’s parley tagged “accountability and transparency in oil spill reporting ” organised by NOSDRA in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom Ministry of Environment and Petroleum Resources, held in Eket , Akwa Ibom state.
The regulatory agency said it would engage community stakeholders, by setting up of liaison offices in the oil producing communities to get real time information on oil spills.
It said the agency would train community representatives on how to report oil spills.
The Communiqué reads in part: “There should be robust confidence building among stakeholders.
“Government should bring laudable projects to the communities to help mitigate the impact of oil spills on the communities.
“Regulators should be well funded to enable them carry out independent investigations.
“Regulators should have Desk Officers in the Oil and Gas Companies.
“To ensure transparency and Accountability, oil spill reporting should be prompt, and all stakeholders should have access to adequate information on oil spills and the results of investigation published.
“The EIA Act, has provision for communities to access information and seek redress on areas their interests were not captured.
“Adequate and comprehensive consultation should be carried out by operators or their consultants during the EIA process.
Regulators should endeavour to penalize defaulters.
“Companies should embrace the standard of disaggregated reporting on oil spills at project and community levels to ensure that oil spill data is directly associated with the projects from which they occur”, it added.
