Nigerians Fume As NNPCL Says It Can’t Handle Oil Theft Despite Paying Tompolo’s Company N48b Yearly for Security

Nigerians Fume As NNPCL Says It Can’t Handle Oil Theft Despite Paying Tompolo’s Company N48b Yearly for Security....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Tompolo

Written By Oshiobugie John

Despite paying Tompolo’s company N48 billion yearly for security, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) admits it still cannot effectively tackle oil theft in the country. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

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Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, made this revelation during an oversight visit by the House of Representatives special committee. Kyari stated that Nigeria’s production targets have been hampered by extensive oil theft along its pipelines nationwide.

While providing figures to the legislators, Kyari highlighted the alarming extent of damage, revealing that as of December 2023, Nigeria had 4,800 illegal connections along 5,000 km of pipeline. He expressed frustration at the challenges in combating these infractions, emphasizing that despite efforts to remove illegal connections, new ones quickly replace them.

In an attempt to address the issue, the NNPCL, in collaboration with the federal government, engaged Tantita Security Services, owned by ex-Niger Delta militant Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), for pipeline surveillance at a cost of N4 billion per month. However, despite this contract and the involvement of national security forces, oil theft remains a significant problem.

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President Bola Tinubu’s government aims for a conservative oil production benchmark of 1.78 million barrels per day, although OPEC has set Nigeria’s quota at 1.5 million barrels per day. Yet, Nigeria has consistently failed to meet either target, according to OPEC reports.

The economic impact of oil theft is substantial, with Nigeria losing approximately N2.3 trillion in 2023 alone, surpassing projected revenue from crude oil and gas sales in 2024. Additionally, the country spent N34.47 billion between 2021 and mid-2022 on repairing damaged pipelines, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.