The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd, Mele Kyari on Wednesday said the company recorded 9000 infractions on its pipelines within one year.
Kyari said this when the House of Representatives Special Committee on Oil Theft went on an oversight function at the headquarters of NNPC Ltd. in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to him, from 2022 to date, the company has deactivated 6,465 illegal refineries across the country.
“We have also removed 4,876 illegal connections to a pipeline out of 5,570 that we have discovered”, he said.
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He said, “It is very obvious that despite all the integrity issues with our pipeline and our facilities, we have capacity beyond 2 million barrels per day without doing anything.
“But today, we are struggling to meet the budget estimate of 1.6 million barrels per day. In 2022, it became so obvious that if something dramatic is not done, we are going to run into trouble. On a specific date, our production came down to as low as 1.1 million barrels per day.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Special Committee, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, said it was established and common knowledge that operating oil and gas pipelines in Nigeria constituted a herculean challenge.
He said hardly a week or even a few days go by without an infraction or damage to an oil and/or gas pipeline in the country.
He lamented the opacity and non-transparency of regulatory activities at our crude oil export terminals were alarming.
“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.
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