By Tunde Sholanke
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has reiterated its commitment to stop oil theft and losses as the country’s oil production leaps above 1.6 million barrels per day.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mr Mele Kyari,gave the assurance at the Nigerian oil and gas industry stakeholders event assembled to discuss the challenges of crude oil theft and losses affecting the industry.
Kyari,who was represented by the company’s Chief Upstream Investment Officer, Bala Wunti, said that the rectangular approach comprising NNPC Limited and partners, regulators,government security operators and the communities underpinned by the adoption of technology have ensured the recovery of production from an all-time low of sub-one million barrels of crude oil production per day in July 2022, to the current production figure of 1.67 million barrels per day.
He said:“The implementation of the 3DR strategy (Detect, Deter, Destroy, and Recover), the establishment of the Central Command and Control Centre for effective monitoring and coordination, the launching of the Whistle-Blowers Portal and the Crude Oil Validation Portal, and the deployment of some of the best-in-class surveillance tools and technology have been a game changer in the fight against crude oil theft and vandalism”.
“A key element of the collaboration has been the onboarding the Private Security Contractors from the host communities, which were hitherto isolated”, Wunti stated added that their in-depth knowledge of the terrain and modus operandi of the criminals have led to massive discoveries of illegal connections and interception of vessels ferrying stolen crude oil.
The event also created opportunity to reflect on the progress recorded over the last twelve months following the introduction of the industry-wide security collaboration for the protection of hydrocarbon infrastructure.
With the current sustained efforts, facilities that have been shut down have reopened, and injection of crude oil into major trunklines for evacuation to the terminals is being ramped up. Nigeria’s crude oil production output is steadily growing to hit the 1.8 million barrels per day OPEC quota. The production growth implies significant economic benefits for the country and all stakeholders.
The Nigerian oil and gas industry is poised to reposition itself for a sustainable growth trajectory as the efforts to rid Nigeria of the menace of crude oil theft continue to gain traction.
