Pipeline vandalism up by 42.9%, NNPC raises alarm

* Ibadan-Ilorin, Aba-Enugu axis now highest  vandalized points 

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has raised an alarm on the increasing incidents of pipeline vandalism across the country.

NNPC said that in October last year its pipeline network suffered a 42.9 percent increase in the incidents of pipeline vandalism compared to the previous month during the year.

Giving a breakdown of the incidents of breaches in its infrastructure, NNPC’s spokesman Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement on Tuesday said the corporation recorded 219 pipeline vandalized points in October, compared to 125 incidents it suffered in September last year.

Mr. Ughamadu said the findings that were captured in the corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report for October 2018 revealed that among the breaches, four vandalized pipeline points failed to be welded and one point was ruptured.

The report stated that cases of vandalism of pipeline facilities were high along Ibadan-Ilorin and Aba-Enugu axis, accounting for 81 (40%) and 39 (18%) vandalized points respectively.

Mr. Ughamadu said that despite the challenge posed by pipeline vandalism, the NNPC kept an eye on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) stock level to ensure zero fuel queue across the nation.

The NNPC monthly report also stated that Nigeria earned $640.35million from the export of crude oil and gas for the month of October, 2018.

The report said the total export receipt of $640.35 million recorded in October 2018 was higher than the $527.70 million logged in September 2018, adding that the receipt showed $450.44million accrued from crude oil sale with gas and miscellaneous receipts standing at $173.92 million and $15.99 million respectively.

In the downstream sector, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a downstream subsidiary of NNPC, posted ₦231.33billion from sales of white products in the month of October 2018 compared with ₦150.25 billion sold in September 2018.

Total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period October 2017 to October 2018 stands at ₦2.684trillion, where PMS contributed about 88.32 percent of the total sales value of ₦2.371 Trillion.