N60bn repairs of pipelines: Nigeria is the most notorious country of oil theft – Minister

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

The Minister of Environment, Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, on Monday, has stated that Nigeria is the most notorious country of oil theft.

Abubakar, who said this during a town hall meeting in Abuja, focused on Protecting Oil and Gas Infrastructure, lamented the consequences of vandalism, which he said include loss of oil revenue, water and soil degradation.

However, he also revealed that the Ogoni clean-up is going on well and strong.

Also speaking, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed revealed that Nigeria spends N60 billion annually in repairs and maintenance of vandalised pipelines.

This is as the country lost in revenue N4.5 trillion, with an average of 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day due to activities of vandals in the region.

The minister who quoted statistics said between January 2019 and September 2020, 1,161 pipeline points across the country were vandalized.

He added, “Apart from the impact on the nation’s earnings, consider also the environmental problems caused by the incessant vandalism, in terms of freshwater pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, etc., and you will appreciate the enormity of the problem.”

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari is alos part of the panelists, said Pipeline vandals and criminal gangs have stolen crude worth billions of naira.

He however said in the last few years the number of vandalism had reduced drastically from 623 cases to 94.

This he attributed to the current systemic approach in tackling restiveness in the Niger Delta region.

He said as quoted by the Nation, “Pipeline vandals and criminal gangs operating along system 2B axis have stolen about 307.994 Million Litres of PMS valued at N41.049bn

“System 2E lost 26Million Litres of PMS valued at N3.468bn due to activities of vandals in 2019.

“From January-December 2020, Losses along system 2B amounted to 146.809 Million litres of PMS valued at N22.487bn.

Some notable hotspot areas are Abagbo, Ikate, Akaraba, Ilashe, Imoren, Ijegun, Ikotun, Baruwa, Oke Odo, Warewa and Ilara.

“System 2E lost 0.237Million Litres of PMS valued at N36.3million in 2020.

“From January-May NNPC pipeline segments have suffered 203 pipeline breaks with System 2B having 80 pipeline breaks and System 2E, a total of 114 pipeline breaks with a total cumulative loss of 39million litres amounting to N5.973bn.”

He listed other loses to include, Environmental Damage, Huge product losses, High cost for repairs, Lost time on operations and Human and Property Damage.