The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has recorded 121 crude oil theft incidents between July 29 and August 4, 2023.
The company’s weekly Energy series, which airs on the Nigerian Television Authority Network, claimed this.
The study indicates that crude theft occurrences happened in the states of Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Imo. Following is a breakdown of the incidents of simple theft from the report:
24 illegal connections
52 illegal refineries
6 pipeline vandalism
26 wooden boats confiscated
12 vessel AIS infractions
1 oil spill
1 illegal vessel
Additionally, it was noted that 12 of the occurrences occurred in the Deep Blue Sea, 7 occurred in the Western region, and 80 occurred in the Central region and 23 took place in the Eastern region of the oil-producing part of Niger Delta.
According to the investigation, a number of cases involving various oil industry players came to light.
Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited disclosed 22 accidents, while the Nigerian Agip Oil Company disclosed a total of 12.
Additionally, GSIA reported 46 accidents, while Maton Engineering Nigeria Limited recorded 22 incidents.
Tantita Security revealed 7 instances, while the NNPCL (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited) Command and Control Centre discovered 12.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company did, however, disclose a solitary event during the highlighted time.
Be aware that in 2022, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services,Bala Wunti, stated that the new security architecture against crude oil theft is based on rectangular architecture and relies on command-and-control center technology to connect the community, regulators, and security and intelligence agencies.
The destruction of vessels and other materials used in carrying out crude theft could be a sign of suspicious activity, according to the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream at the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, August 9.
He called to inquire as to the rationale of the burning of the discovered vessels, despite the fact that the nation might employ the crude and other commodities discovered in the crude theft trade. He stated:
“How economically sound do you think it is for you to waste something that will bring in money? For every error people make, we won’t pass new legislation. It’s all about administrative directives, which state that if you receive them, you must store them because they are government property.”
“Except for something that goes on that we do not know, and we intend to find out why they keep destroying it, there is no basis for you to say you are going to burn it,” he concluded.
