Community Affairs (CA) and Security Overview

Community Affairs in Operational Areas

The success of previous UG(N)L seismic survey campaigns has been dependent on ‘good local community relations’. We believe our record speaks for itself having successfully acquired more than 8,500km2 of 3D data in Nigeria since 1990.

The Technical Alliance has a record and reputation of being able to acquire data in areas that our competitors have had to abandon due to problems with host communities. Examples of this include:-

  • The ‘Umuechem Gap’ area (part of the OLUA 3D survey) around Umuechem in Rivers State, which was successfully acquired in 2002 for SPDC.

  • The Uguz South 3D prospect area, which was successfully acquired without incident in 1994 for SPDC. This prospect had previously been abandoned by a competitor.

  • The Port Harcourt International Airport area (part of the ROBO 3D prospect area), which was acquired in 2000 for SPDC.

Creating strong and mutually beneficial ties with our host communities are crucial to acquiring good seismic data. To achieve this we focus on community employment strategies, community assisted projects, youth incentive schemes along with various other schemes and incentives.

During the acquisition of our Imo River 4D project for SPDC in 2003/2004, our OPL275 project for Pan Ocean in 2010 and our OPL135 project for NAOC in 2011/12 the ''Alliance'' recorded zero permit downtime which we believe is an industry record and also a testament to the effectiveness of our CA department.

 

Security in the Niger Delta

Of recent time, security in the Niger Delta has become a major issue. In order to ensure the security of crew personnel, equipment and facilities/operational bases, each operation has its own approved security plan, which is produced in conjunction with the client and fully assesses the concerns, challenges and risks associated with working in different prospect areas.

In addition to our internal civilian security department, each field crew can be complemented by the services of external security agencies if necessary. Such agencies include the Nigeria Police, Bomb Disposal Police and Nigerian Army & Navy as required.