LAGOS – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it recorded 3,571 pipeline breaks in 2013 due to the activities of vandals and oil theft in the country.
The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr Joseph Dawha, made the disclosure at the National Association of Energy Correspondents’ 2014 Conference on Thursday in Lagos.
The theme of the conference is “Pipeline Vandalism and its Socio-Economic Effects on the Nation”.
Dawha was represented by Mr Francis Amego, the Executive Director, Commercial, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company Ltd (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC.
He said that the activity of vandals was first recorded in 1999 with 497 pipeline breaks, adding that it increased to 3,571 in 2013.
Dawha said that this had led to high cost of operations and deterioration of the refinery system.
The group managing director added that the act had resulted to loss of revenue by the government and production capacity.
He urged the Federal Government to develop critical infrastructure and key resources protection in line with that of the United States. [eap_ad_1] Dawha said that there was need to reinforce the existing laws to allow for speedy prosecution of cases.
Contributing, Maj-Gen. Emmanuel Atuwe, Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, said that the issue of vandalism should be tackled culturally, psychologically and economically.
Atuwe said that severe punishment should be meted out to oil thieves, adding that all oil theft should attract a stiff penalty.
According to him, if this is done, it will deter others from acts of vandalism.
The commander said that there was need to address the challenge of unemployment, adding that establishment of more refineries would lead to creation of employment and more refined products.
He said that this would also bring more indigenes in oil producing areas into gainful employment.
Atuwe called for more collaboration among the security agencies responsible for protection of the nation’s pipelines.
Mr Felix Amieyeofori, Managing Director, Energia Company Ltd., said that oil theft caused distortion in oil prices at the international market.
Amieyeofori said that only 30 per cent of the stolen oil was sold locally and the government needed to identify and proffer solution to the problem.
Dr Layi Fatona, Managing Director, Niger Delta Petroleum Company (NDPC), said that pipeline vandalism was more ravaging than the present Ebola Virus Disease. Fatoba said that this was because the vandals had brought high skills and sophistication into the act. (NAN)
[eap_ad_4]