By Yemi Olakitan
***In 1958, Shell made its first commercially significant oil discovery in Oloibiri
The Federal Government’s attempts to protect Oloibiri’s cultural legacy in Bayelsa State are being supported by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), which has reiterated its commitment to doing so.
In 1958, Oloibiri was the site of the first commercial oil discovery by SPDC.
During the groundbreaking ceremony for the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMRC) in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa, SPDC’s Managing Director, Osajie Okunbor, made the commitment at the historically significant Oloibiri Oil Well No. 1 location.
Following SPDC’s sale of the asset in 2015, the Oloibiri oil fields currently fall under Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29, which is being run by local oil company Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production.
“This is history in the making, and the SPDC Joint Venture is happy to be connected with it,” Mr. Okunbor stated during the event.
Nigeria’s energy success story has, in fact, returned home.
Shell wrote the first chapters of Nigeria’s history of energy here in 1958.
Here in Oloibiri, there occurred the first commercial hydrocarbon discovery, and it was also from here that Nigeria’s first oil export, which propelled Nigeria into the top tier of oil producers, was made.
He said that more than 60 years had passed, and Shell’s social initiatives in Oloibiri—both as a lone sponsor and in partnership with its joint venture partners—have served as a witness to the significance of the momentous event that took place there.
He said the Shell Group launched one of its largest health interventions programmes in Nigeria in 2019 and again in 2022 in acknowledgment of Oloibiri’s crucial role in Nigeria.
In addition to other health interventions within Oloibiri and its surroundings, Mr. Okunbor stated that “this intervention involved the commissioning of a fully remodelled and equipped general hospital at Kolo, fully equipped laboratories in the College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, solar-powered water treatment facilities for the communities, the Oloibiri Health Campus at Oloibiri town, and the Ogbia Safe Maternal and Infant Care Program.”
The SPDC applauded the Federal Executive Council’s efforts in taking a step-by-step strategy that resulted in the contract being awarded and approval for building of the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre.
The Petroleum Technology Development Fund, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, the SPDC Joint Venture, and the Bayelsa State Government, according to Mr. Okunbor, demonstrated their intrepidity and cooperation during the groundbreaking ceremony
He urged the locals to view the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre as their own and not just another government- and multinational-sponsored initiative.