NNPC loses N190bn to pipeline vandalism in 2 years

By The Citizen

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation lost a total of N190bn to pipeline vandals between 2011 and 2012, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company Limited has said.

Spokesman for PPMC, Mr. Nasir Imodagbe, disclosed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

Details of the loss showed that while revenues lost to crude oil theft decreased substantially within the period, revenues lost to theft of refined products, however, increased substantially.

In 2011, pipeline vandalism for the theft of crude resulted in the loss of N90bn, while that for the theft of refined products resulted in the loss of N20bn in the same year.

In the following year, theft of crude oil resulted in the loss of N40bn, while vandalism for the theft of refined petroleum products also led to the loss of N40bn.

Thus, within a period of two years, crude oil theft from pipeline vandalism declined by 55.55 per cent, while pipeline vandalism for the purpose of stealing refined products increased by 100 per cent.

Imodagbe attributed the decline in crude oil theft to increase in security operations in the Niger Delta region.

'Crude oil theft happens mainly in the Niger Delta. This reduced because of increased security operations in the region. However, product theft has been on the increase especially in the South West,' he said.