By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari has decried the increase of oil theft in the country, saying that Nigeria is now producing less than 1.5 million barrels per day of crude oil.
Kyari said this on Tuesday at the 5th quadrennial delegates’ conference holding in Asaba, Delta State.
Speaking on the theme, “Just Energy Transition: For Oil and Gas Workers Social Welfare and Security,” the NNPC GMD told participants that the impact of pipeline vandalism has reduced the capacity of the country to meet its production quota.
He sought for the support of National Association of Petroleum and Engineering Gas Workers, NUPENG, National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, and other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to tackle the issue of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Kyari said as major stakeholders in the oil and gas business, time has come for NUPENG and NARTO to collaborate with the NNPC in bringing the issue of crude oil theft to an end.
He said, “You can see the short trouble that we have and what it has caused all of us. But more than this comrades, our locally industries is terribly challenged and you may be aware, we have seen vandal activities around our areas of operations not just in the Niger Delta but across other corridors of product supply.”
