NNPC, Security Agencies Uncover Another Illegal Crude Oil Operation In Delta State

Officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd in collaboration with private security guards and government security agencies have uncovered another illegal crude oil operation in Warri, Delta State.

The illegal activities were discovered on Saturday in two locations in Warri, Delta State.

It was learnt that the during a tour of the creek, the NNPC officials and the security personnel uncovered the first illegal crude oil operation around the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company flow station in Jones Creek, Delta State.

For the second illegal operation, officials discovered this at the Chevron flow station in Utonana also in Warri.

The flow stations had illegal pipes connected to oil heads from which crude oil is being stolen into a tank located inside the creek.

The discovery is coming barely 48 hours after angry oil workers under the umbrella body of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria had threatened to shut down oil installations across the Niger Delta if the federal government failed to speedily address the lingering issue of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the country.

The workers said that international oil companies such as Agip, Total, Shell and Addax, had stopped oil production in some wells due to the theft, stating that the jobs of workers in these firms were currently threatened.

They blamed soldiers and other security agents protecting pipelines in the country for the continued oil theft in the Niger Delta.

The President, PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo while speaking on the activities of oil thieves had said, “It has become necessary for us as an association to cry out and shout because if necessary steps are not taken we will be forced to embark on a nationwide solidarity by withdrawing our members from production.

“Let us join and assist the government, since they are not responding to what they ought to do, they are not responsive in fighting this criminality, being that they don’t have the political will to fight this criminality, we will withdraw our members and let the country run aground.

“We cannot continue to produce and some people will siphon it, sell and become millionaires in dollars on a daily basis. We can no longer support this.

“Government must wake up. You cannot send naval officers, civil defence operatives, as well as men and women of the Nigerian Army to the creeks of the Niger Delta and you don’t develop a mechanism to hold them accountable.”

He said if the government failed to put a stop to the issue of crude oil theft, then the workers will have no option than to go on indefinite strike.

THE WHISTLER had last week reported that the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari is seeking the support of the Judiciary to set up a special court for the prosecution of crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals in the country.

The NNPC Boss said this when he said a courtesy visit to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria; Hon. Justice John Tosho.

The Group CEO was accompanied on the visit by the NNPC Ltd Group Executive Director, Upstream, Adokiye Tombomieye.

During the visit, the GCEO sought the High Court’s support towards the creation of a special court/tribunal to ensure speedy trial of crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals.

Kyari who described these actions as a serious threat to Nigeria’s oil production, revenue generation and by extension energy security, noted that a special court to execute such cases will deter would-be criminals and assure investors of value for their investments.

Nigeria relies on crude oil revenue for over 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings and about 70 per cent of government revenue.

In the first quarter of this year, Nigeria lost $1bn in revenue to crude oil theft and production shut-in caused by pipeline vandalism.

With a daily loss of over 700,000 barrels of crude oil to theft, pipeline vandalism and production shut-ins,
caused by tapping of crude oil from a maze of pipelines owned by oil majors, experts have said that it has become compelling for the government to adopt a holistic approach to address the crude oil revenue loss challenge.

At an average price of $100 per barrel crude oil price, it means that Nigeria is currently losing about $70m monthly to crude oil thieves and production shut-ins.

The high level of oil losses caused by crude theft had led to a drop in daily oil production from 1.8 million barrels per day in the last three years to just a little over one million bpd.

The NNPC Ltd is currently using state of the art technology to gather the much needed intelligence that would assist security agencies to go after crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals.

Nigeria sits atop 36 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 206 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves but has seen a massive drop in its crude oil earnings.

But the country had in recent times not been able to harness the potentials of this resources because of oil theft and losses caused by the illegal siphoning of crude oil from oil facilities.

The quantity of oil delivered into the various crude oil terminals in the country have been limited by the activities of pipelines vandals and organized groups.

With oil theft and pipeline vandalism overwhelming Nigeria’s oil business in recent weeks, the NNPC Ltd is adopting the Saudi Aramco’s model of using video surveillance to monitor its pipelines carrying crude oil from wells to flow stations in the Niger Delta.

The surveillance system is known as the Central Coordination, Data Integration and Activation Control Room

Through the Data Control Centre, the NNPC has the capability to see and monitor the movement of vessels in the coast of Nigeria’s territorial waters in real time.

From the facility, officials of the NNPC, working with operatives of the Nigerian Navy can determine, in real time, if a vessel is carrying out operations within Nigeria’s coastal waters legally.

The Data Centre also uses an intelligence system to detect when an incident of crude oil theft has occured, the location, and the vessels involved.

Immediately such illegal operation has been established, officials of the Centre through it’s Incidents Reporting System will immediately escalate such threat to the security agencies for immediate action.

So far, over 22 million litres of stolen crude have been recovered through intelligence provided by the Data Centre.

Similarly, over 22 million litres of Diesel, 0.15 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, and 0.76 million litres of kerosene have also been recovered from criminals.

Through the operation, 112 suspects have been arrested while 11 vehicles, 30-speed boats, 179 wooden boats, 37 trucks have been seized and destroyed.

Other items recovered according to are 959 metal tanks, 737 ovens, 452 dugout pits, 342 reservoirs and 355 cooking pots have been destroyed.

Similarly, 207 pumping machines, 12 welding machines, six power generators, and two drilling machines were recovered from crude oil thieves.