A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Akinola Ajibade
...Kyari Optimistic of Containment
The Federal Government has warned oil thieves, pipeline vandals and illegal refiners against causing more problems in the nation's oil and gas sector, saying that it would no longer condone the practices.
The government further said that their days are numbered , as iits planning to deal with perpetrators of such crimes soon.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor and the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commision (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe,gave the warning during an on-the-spot- assessment of some pipelines damaged by pipeline vandals and other criminals in some areas and communities of Rivers State recently.
At Ibaa Community in Emeoha Local Government of Rivers State where the powerful FG delegation witnessed an illegal refinery burnt down by the Military, Sylva said apart from causing huge losses for the country, the criminals were also destroying livelihoods of locals and the environment.
To solve the problem, Sylva said “the community must be involved, the security arm must be involved and the third arm which is the operating publics must also be involved. I want to let everybody know that these criminals have their days numbered because the country has lost so much from their activities.”
Also speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor said in carrying out Mr. President’s directives to contain losses from these criminalities, the Military will deploy a different strategy and a new drive by pursuing not only the criminals, but also their sponsors. “We are not only zeroing in on the criminals, but also on those who are supporting them.”
In his remarks, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe described the acts of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism as “a national disaster and the perpetrators as criminals.”
“For those who want to do legitimate business, there are clear government regulations on how that is done. But what we’ve seen here today are criminals and their activities will no longer be tolerated.
On his part, the GMD/CEO NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari explained that the scale of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism seen in the community was beyond explanation, adding that all hands must be on deck to contain the spate of crude oil losses in the country.
While appreciating the current leadership of the Military, Kyari expressed confidence that through a collaborative effort of government security agencies, host communities and oil companies operating in the area and with the deployment of the right technology, the menace would be contained.
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