Mele Kayari, the Chief Executive of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, announced on Tuesday that the company had discovered an illegal 4 km pipeline from Forcados in Delta State to the Sea as well as a loading port that had been in use for the previous nine years.
Mele Kyari revealed this when he testified before a joint senate committee on upstream, downstream, and gas, lamenting that although oil theft in Nigeria has been occurring for more than 22 years, the rate it has reached in recent years is unprecedented.
Kyari revealed that three operational facilities of forcados , bonny and brass oil terminals have all been shut down as a result of the high rate of crude oil theft, leading to the loss of about 600,000 barrels per day.
The chief executive of NNPC Limited further revealed that in the last six weeks there has been a spill site in Bori community in Rivers state, which may affect the operations of the Trans Nembe pipeline if not clamped.
He added that the spill has led to the country losing 120,000 barrels per day, in addition to the hundreds of illegal refineries in the country.
He further stated that, in the course of the clamp down, the company has destroyed 350 illegal refineries, 273 wooden while 374 reservoirs have been destroyed.
1,561 metal tanks were destroyed, while over 49 seized trucks were burnt, among others.
He said the implications of the destruction are worse than the Ogoni spillage devastation in the affected areas, which has decimated agriculture and fishing in the communities.
He explained that in addressing the menace, NNPCL carried out aerial surveillance of the affected areas and observed that the economic saboteurs carry out their activities unchallenged.
The lawmakers’ proposal to impose the death penalty on offenders was presented to the plenary for consideration after more than four hours of interface.
To confirm NNPC’s claims of rehabilitation, the committee also decided to conduct oversight visits to the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries.
