The menace of pipeline vandalism and oil theft may have cost the nation about $243 million (N38.8 billion) in 2013, according to the Nigerian National Petroluem Corporation (NNPC).
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Joseph Dawah, who made this known at an industry event in Abuja recently, said Nigeria lost $243 million worth of oil products last year from sabotage to the country’s pipeline network.
He said the pipeline vandals punctured about 3,571 cases on the pipelines last year.
With about 6,000 pipeline network in the country, Dawah said the nation’s loss to vandalism was increased from N21.48b (2,230 cases) in 2012 to N38.8 billion in 2013.
“These acts have resulted to loss of revenue by the government and production capacity at our refineries,” Dawha added.
He said the government would need to develop “critical infrastructure and key resources protection” in line with that of the United States, and also called for an increase to prosecution rates in theft cases.
Dawah’s disclosure was related to the recent comment by the Managing Director of Pipeline Product Marketing Company (PPMC), Haruna Momoh, in Lagos, that Nigeria has recorded 34,042 case of pipeline vandalism and rupture in the last 14 years (1999-2013).
Momoh identified five major five states where vandals carry out their nefarious operations often refer to as ‘Hot Spots’ to include; Gombe, Kaduna, Mosimi, Port Harcourt and Warri in Delta states.
According to him, the activities of pipeline vandals in the country have led to the loss of 712, 776 metric tons cubic meters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol in the last four years.
Within the same year, he said the country lost 1,310,139 metric tons cubic meters of crude oil, 9.55 million metric tons of Dual Purpose Kerosene? (DPK) and 37.05 million metric tons of Automated Gas Oil (AGO) also known as diesel.
The PPMC boss stated that the unpatriotic activities ?of economic saboteurs have led to the disruption of crude oil supply from Escravos to Warri and Port Harcourt refineries through pipelines.
Momoh further explained that the federal government has been forced to use marine vessels for crude oil deliveries to refineries as a result of the activities of pipeline vandals.
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