Lokpobiri: Hope Not Lost On Atala Oilfield’s Return To Bayelsa *Says State More Polluted Than Ogoniland *Diri Assures On Collaboration To Stem Oil Theft
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has said there is still hope that the revoked licence for OML 46 (also known as Atala Oilfield), belonging to Bayelsa State, will be returned to the state.
The Federal Government through the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources had in controversial circumstances revoked the licence in April 2020 when another son of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, was the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
But, Senator Lokpobiri, during a visit to Governor Douye Diri on Tuesday night at the Government House, Yenagoa, expressed regrets that the Atala oilfield, a common patrimony of the state, was taken away.
The Minister said he would do everything within his power to bring back the asset.
He explained t...