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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has intensified its efforts to combat crude oil theft by uncovering 223 new illegal connections and refineries in the Niger Delta region.
The latest recovery was revealed in a two-minute video aired on Channels Television on Wednesday morning. Naija News learnt that the NNPCL uncovered the illegal refineries during its operations between February 10th and 16th, 2024. A detailed breakdown indicated that 27 of the illegal activities were found at Matron Engineering facilities, 21 at Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, 7 at Shell Petroleum Development Company facilities, 4 at Tantite Security Services Ltd, and 156 at government security agencies’ facilities. Further information disclosed that 20 illegal connections were detected in Okirika, Rivers State, Bayelsa State, and Delta State, while illegal refineries were located in various areas across Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, and Abia states. The video footage displayed sacks of crude oil discovered in Warri, cans of crude oil seized in Edo State, and additional oil sacks confiscated in Olobiri, Bayelsa State. The oil thieves’ activities have resulted in damaged wellheads and pipelines in Bayelsa, with the confiscation of their vehicles in Ole, Ugheli, and Warri in Delta State. NNPCL has reported the arrest of 52 suspects in connection with these incidents. In terms of location, the State Oil Company has indicated that 8 incidents occurred in deep blue waters, 32 in the western region, 123 in the central region, and 60 in the eastern region of the Niger Delta. “For NNPC Limited, there is no backing down on the war on crude oil theft until the menace is eradicated,” the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said. The recent occurrences follow closely behind the persistent challenges faced by the oil and gas industry in terms of limited crude oil production. According to data extracted from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for February, Nigeria’s crude oil production rose to 1.4 million barrels per day in January. However, the country has been unable to fulfil its OPEC allocation of 1.74 mb/d for 2023 and 1.58 mb/d for 2024.
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