The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Dr. Mele Kyari, has revealed that the corporation recorded 9,000 infractions on its pipelines in just a space of twelve months.
Dr. Kyari made this revelation while addressing the House of Representatives’ Special Committee on Oil Theft, led by Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, during an oversight function at the NNPCL headquarters in Abuja.
He stated: “From 2022 to date, we have deactivated 6,465 illegal refineries. We have also removed 4,876 illegal connections to pipelines out of 5,570 that we have discovered.”
Dr. Kyari went on to add that the NNPC was uncertain if that was the actual number, mentioning that there were still approximately a thousand connections that the corporation knew had not yet been removed.
“Some of the scale of the infractions that we see is unbelievable; we are not able to deal with it. When you remove one connection, the next day in the same location, someone will replace it.
“It is evident that crude oil theft is almost an end-to-end issue in Nigeria; it is apparent that everyone is involved. In most of these locations, they are less than a hundred meters from the settlement; some are even less than a hundred meters from the Local Government headquarters.”
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He emphasized that despite the distance, these illegal activities continued unabated, making it impossible to guarantee production for the next day.
Dr. Kyari highlighted security as the key issue and mentioned that the NNPC moved to curtail the menace of pipeline vandals by incorporating all security agencies into a single platform, including private security.
He emphasized: “No country surrenders the protection of such critical assets, which are our source of income, to non-state actors.”
The Chairman of the Special Committee, Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, expressed concern over the challenges faced in operating oil and gas pipelines in Nigeria, stating that infractions or damages to pipelines occur almost on a daily basis.
He also addressed the opacity and lack of transparency in regulatory activities at crude oil export terminals, highlighting instances of undeclared liftings and approvals hastily granted to vessels involved in crude theft, contributing to the huge volume of crude oil theft reported.
Hon. Ado-Doguwa emphasized that Nigeria has been bedeviled by crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism of enormous proportions, primarily within the Niger Delta region.