NNPC Lists Out Roles of Churches, Mosques in Crude Oil Theft, Plans Saudi Arabia Model to Ensure It Stops
- The NNPC has condemned religious institutions for their participation in the ongoing crude oil theft that is destroying Nigeria's oil revenue
- He also stated that the shut down of the national oil company's pipelines was intentional owing to the risk of suffering a loss on the assets.
- NNPC has indicated plans to use Saudi Arabia's oil company model to ensure it stops
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, said that churches, mosques, security services, and host communities were all implicated in crude oil theft.
According to Dailypost, the NNPC head made this claim during a news conference at the state house on Tuesday.
He also stated that the shutdown of the national oil company's pipelines was intentional owing to the risk of suffering a loss on the assets.
Source: Twitter
He noted that several times after raids, stolen crude oils have been found in churches and mosques.
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Kyari said:
"“You remember that Lagos area. When a fire outbreak happened in one of our pipelines, we discovered that some of the pipelines were actually connected to individuals’ homes. And not only that, and with all sensitivity to our religious beliefs, you know, some of the pipelines and some of the products that we found, are actually in churches and mosques.
“That means that everybody is involved. There is no way you will take products, bring in trucks in populated neighbourhoods, load them and leave without everybody else knowing about it.
“That everybody includes members of the community, members of the religious leaders and also and most likely government officials of all natures, including security agencies personnel."
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FG makes big promise to Nigerians, reveals when importation of petroleum products will stop
In the first quarter of 2022, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said the country lost at least $1 billion due to oil theft and illegal artisanal refining.
NNPC adopts Saudi Aramco’s model
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has said it is adopting Saudi Aramco’s model of using video surveillance to monitor its pipelines carrying crude oil from wells to flow stations in the Niger Delta.
Kyari believes the model when finally completed will help put to stop the increasing oil theft, BusinessDay reports.
FG plans clampdown on black marketers
In other news, the federal government may clamp down on black marketers of petroleum products soon, even as it tackles the scarcity of the product headlong.
A source in the midstream and downstream regulatory authority told Legit.ng that the activities of the black marketers were worrisome and that if serious actions and measures were not taken, the current scarcity won’t disappear as expected.
He said that as the federal government pushes more litres of fuel into filling stations across the country, black marketers were out to sabotage the effort.
Source: Legit.ng
