$3m in steel gone

STEEL estimated to value more than $3 million has gone missing from the Barbados National Oil Company (BNOC) at Woodbourne, St Philip.Police yesterday confirmed they were investigating the theft of approximately 100 tonnes of metal weights used for the pumping of oil from several wells operated by BNOC.No arrests have been made so far, but detectives are working on the theory that the steel weights, believed to be about 400, may have been sold as scrap metal on the local market and later shipped overseas. A number of employees have also been questioned about the missing steel.According to BNOC sources, a single weight weighs between 1 000 and 3 000 pounds and is generally used for balancing pumping units, which sometimes reached depths in excess of more than 4 000 feet.Efforts to reach BNOC’s general managerWinton Gibbs for comment yesterday proved futile, while chairman Dr Leonard Nurse was reportedto be overseas.Sources told the WEEKEND NATION the discovery of the missing steel was made following an inventory which was carried out earlier this week at one of the BNOC leased sites near the Government statutory corporation’s St Philip compound.BNOC currently operates more than 120 wellsin what is commonly called the Woodbourne, St Philip valley. The wells stretch along Highway 5, between Boarded Hall, St George and Six Roads, St Philip.The company usually rents or leases land from various adjoining plantations. However if oil is discovered in the particular area, the landlord gets an additional benefit by being awarded royalties.Just two weeks ago, reports indicated the company was on a rebound path, after some previousfinancial problems.Gibbs said that the company was sound in spite of an extended overdraft and diminished working capital.