The President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) Dr. Randolph McClain has cautioned Liberians to speak facts and refrain from falsehood as regard the oil & gas reforms processes of the country.
Dr. McClain said the oil & gas sector is one that all Liberians must remain concerned and interested about, but should do so with facts. He said while NOCAL encourages views on the reform of the sector, NOCAL will reject and frown on views and observations that are not grounded on available facts.
CEO McClain made the statement at a news conference in Monrovia Monday. He indicated that the news conference was a quarterly commitment on progress made regarding the Oil & gas reform of the country.
Dr. McClain explained that his management team has been working tirelessly in navigating what he calls complex challenges facing the sector.
He pointed out that NOCAL has since accelerated it programmatic and developmental strides across all levels of the sector in regard to projects and activities that are touching the lives of ordinary Liberians in a very meaningful way.
The NOCAL CEO named the institution of the Hydro-Carbon Technical Committee that produced a draft national petroleum policy with the assistance of experts and taken to the people through a nationwide consultation organized by the Legislature and NOCAL as one of the reforms in the sector. He noted that the nationwide oil consultation sought to amend provisions of the NOCAL act.
He also named the establishment of a safety, health and environment standards that seek to provide safety and protective environment for Liberians working with companies in the oil & gas sector.
He said NOCAL has for the first time established concrete and progressive standards against potentially catastrophic hazard like oil spill and other environmental damaging effect, during exploration and drilling.
However, he said that international oil companies are obliged to follow the safety standards while operating in the country, adding that Liberians can count on NOCAL to seek their collective interest in said regard.
“By these proactive standards, International Oil Companies (IOCs) are obliged to strictly adhere to these safety measures if they are to do oil business in the country because we at NOCAL, the safety, health and environment of Liberia and its people are more of concern than the anticipated millions of United States dollars from oil companies,” McClain indicated.
