Pipeline repairs gulp N34.47bn in 18 months – Report

With the challenge of pipeline vandalism lingering in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited spent almost N34.47bn to repair and manage pipelines in 18 months.

The latest Oil and Gas Report released by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, covering 2021, showed that N22.05bn was spent on pipeline repairs and maintenance.

In the first six months of 2021, the NNPCL disclosed that a total of 350 pipeline points were vandalised.

The NNPCL said it had, in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders have continuously striven to reduce the menace of pipeline vandalism.

The CEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said that the introduction of Operation White and the Automated Downstream Operations and Financial Monitoring Centre had made it possible for the corporation to monitor product supply and distribution across the country.

He said that had reduced illicit practices, such as oil theft and cross-border smuggling of petroleum products, which used to cause dislocation in the supply and distribution matrix and huge revenue losses to the country.

In January 2021, the national oil company said a total of 96 companies from various jurisdictions had indicated interest in undertaking the rehabilitation of its downstream facilities, ranging from critical pipelines to depots and terminals, through the Build, Operate and Transfer financing model.

Also, between January and June 2022, the NNPCL said that it spent N12.42bn on pipeline maintenance and security.

Despite the N34.47bn spent on pipeline repairs and maintenance, a statement from the NNPCL in September last year noted that the oil company lost 470,000 bpd of crude oil amounting to $700m monthly due to oil theft.

The PUNCH recently reported that Justice Akintoye Aluko of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ordered the remand of 10 alleged oil thieves in the Nigerian Correctional Service for vandalising the NNPCL’s pipeline on the high seas.

The defendants were facing two counts of conspiracy and willful tampering with a pipeline preferred against them by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

The prosecuting counsel, Erute Okandeji, told the court that the incident occurred on August 20, 2023, around 12.04 am at the NNPCL/SPM on the high seas.

According to Okandeji, the offences committed contravened Sections Section 3 (6) and 1 (7) (b) of the Miscellaneous Offences AP M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Following their not-guilty plea, Okandeji asked the court for a trial date and the remand of the defendants in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service.