The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari , on Tuesday said that the damaged major pipeline that has hobbled Nigeria’s oil production for months will come on stream in a week.
Speaking during a summit organised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), in Abuja, he stated that the country was recording successes in its fight against crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals.
For months, the Trans-Forcados Oil Pipeline System, the second longest pipeline network in the Niger Delta has been down, affecting the export terminal and leading to closure of about 20 oilfields.
Kyari stated that if left uncurbed, the activities of the vandals would destroy the oil and gas industry and subsequently frustrate the NNPC’s mandate of guaranteeing energy security.
“The government security agencies in partnership with NNPC and other companies are on the table today because if we don’t arrest pipeline vandalism, we will have no industry.
“And more than anything else, it will completely question any possibility of energy security for our country. For NNPC, we are by law required to be the guarantor of energy security for this country. This is very broad, very tough and very demanding. It means that we must supply energy to this country in all it’s forms.
“And until we arrest the current situation of theft and vandals action, it’s very difficult to take the next step. I am glad to share with you today that monumental progress has been achieved and I can tell you that in the next couple of days maximum a week, our pipelines assets will come back on stream.
“This will no doubt provide the resources that we need to go back to work to reinvest and also provide resources for our country so that other infrastructure development in our country can be delivered,” he stated.
While calling for the support of all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to stop the menace of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, he stressed that all those involved in the crime will go unpunished.
Kyari added that that many of the illegal pipelines connection through which crude oil was being stolen were done with the connivance of the communities, security agencies and some oil workers.
“This is clearly an area that requires all of us. And whoever, anywhere, whether in NNPC, regulators, security agencies or wherever you are and whoever you are working for, as long as we know such people, please report at the portal because it is the enemy of all of us.
“Many of the connections that you have seen could not have been delivered except with the involvement of professionals, it’s not possible. They are in our midst, the ones we know, we must put them on the table and that is what we are doing. We will spare no one in this action so that ultimately we can get back our assets.
“I am happy with the support we are getting from government security agencies and it is working. Also the involvements of private security is working and it has helped us.
“Many of the discoveries we made today could not have been possible without local knowledge,” he explained.
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
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