How we fight oil theft, vandalism – Kyari

Although oil theft and vandalism persist in oilfields across the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has worked with relevant security agencies to crack down on saboteurs.

NNPCL Director General Mele Kyari revealed this to the Senate Joint Committees on Oil (Upstream and Downstream) and Gas on Tuesday.

While he noted that Nigeria is in a calamitous situation due to oil theft and vandalism of pipelines with low production, he said that at least 395 illegal refineries have been disabled.

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Mr. Kyari also proposed capital punishment for offenders.

The NNPCL revealed earlier that it was losing 470,000 bpd of crude oil worth $700 million per month due to oil theft.

PREMIUM TIMES also reported how Nigeria, amid declining revenues, lost $10 billion to crude oil theft in seven months.

Mr Kyari's revelations come about two weeks after a group of lawyers petitioned the Senate Ad Hoc Committee regarding an alleged theft of oil from the Ugo Ocha export terminal at the OML 42.

OML 42, an oil field located in the western Niger Delta swamps, is operated by NECONDE Energy Limited. The terminal has four flow stations with a combined production capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

During the hearing that lasted over four hours, Mr. Kyari said that in the past six weeks, 395 illegal refineries have been deactivated, 274 tanks destroyed, 1,561 metal tanks destroyed, 49 trucks seized and a 4 kilometer illegal oil connection line from the Forcados terminal into the sea - which had been operating undetected for nine years - was detected.

The NNPCL, he explained, carried out aerial surveillance of the affected areas and discovered "the economic saboteurs carrying out their activities without challenge or disturbance.

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“The problem that arises is not only security but social, as the inhabitants of most of the regions where the illegal refiners operate unknowingly serve them as employees by confusing them with agents of companies approved for the refinement. exploration and production in the region."

The NNPCL boss further informed lawmakers that the Cambodian and Mexican models of involving non-state actors are being adopted by the group by involving three private security companies.

"It is not abnormal to involve non-state actors for the protection of oil pipelines and other critical infrastructure as has been done in Cambodia and Mexico, which have produced the desired results", he said. -he declared.

Committee member Bassey Akpan (PDP, Akwa Ibom North East) also recommended that the death penalty be put in place for offenders.

Panel Chairman Sabo Nakudu (APC, Jigawa South West) has informed the NNPCL boss that oversight functions will be carried out at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries which have reportedly been rehabilitated.

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