Bayo Ojulari, President of the SPE, disclosed this in Lagos on Thursday, adding that the lingering crisis in the region posed a big threat to the lives of the members working in the area, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
According to him, the council was faced with numerous challenges, including the movement of many oil companies operating in the region to other countries.
Ojulari said such relocations were affecting the sponsorship ofthe council's activities, urging the Nigerian federal government to take urgent steps to restore security and order to the region.
He said funding had been a major constraint of the council and that members, who had relocated outside the country were no longer remitting their dues.
The SPE leader said the body was concerned about the insecurity of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, noting that an international conference scheduled to hold in Abuja from Aug. 2 to Aug. 5 would come up with proposals to ameliorate the situation.
According to him, the conference would also address the problem of militancy in the region.
He added that Nigeria will be one of the three leading oil countries if it allows oil and gas companies operating in the country to stabilize their activities.
Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources Rilwanu Lukman said on Tuesday that the country is losing an average of 1 million barrels of crude oil per day because of the crisis in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
Armed attacks in the oil rich region, which accounts for almost all of Nigeria's oil output, have cut more than 20 percent of the country's crude exports since 2006.
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