NNPCL Recorded 9,000 Pipeline Infractions In One Year – Kyari

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has said the firm recorded 9,000 infractions on oil pipelines in one year.

Kyari stated this on Wednesday, when the House of Representatives Special Committee on Oil Theft visited the NNPCL headquarters in Abuja on oversight functions.

According to him, from 2022 till date, the NNPCL had deactivated 6,465 illegal refineries. It has also removed 4,876 of the 5,570 illegal connections to pipelines.

He added: “Some of the infractions we see are 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 obvious that crude oil theft is almost an end-to-end issue in Nigeria; it is very obvious that everyone is involved. In most of these locations, they are less than a 100 meters from the settlement. Some are even less than a 100 meters from the local government headquarters.”

Kyari said the key issue was insecurity, and that NNPCL moved to curtail pipeline vandalism by incorporating all security agencies into a single platform, including private security.

According to him, no country surrenders the protection of such critical assets, which are the source of income, to non-state actors.

He said: “It is obvious that despite all the integrity issues with our pipeline and our facilities, we have capacity beyond two million barrels per day without doing anything. But, today, we are struggling to meet the budget estimate of 1.6 million barrels per day. This by no means is related to crude oil theft.

“No one will produce oil, knowing fully well that he cannot dispose of it, and that’s why no one is putting money into it. In 2022, it became so obvious that if something dramatic was not done, we will run into trouble. On a specific date, our production came down to as low as 1.1 million barrels per day.”

Chairman of the Special Committee, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa rued the infractions and damage to oil and gas pipelines in the country. He lamented that these infractions do not stop with the pipelines.

“We are compiling the facts and figures. Instances where approvals are hastily granted to vessels involved in crude theft just to cover official complicity are reported.

“Incidents of undeclared liftings are noted, and all these and several other infractions, particularly in our offshore marine environment, contribute to the huge volume of crude oil theft being reported,” he said.