By Abdul Lawal,Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited(NNPCL) said it has uncovered illegal pipelines being used to siphon crude oil out of Nigeria thereby heightening oil theft in the country.
NNPCL Group Chief Executive Mele kolo Kyari made this known in Abuja on Wednesday while fielding questions from members of the joint committee on Upstream,Downstream and Gas sectors of the Senate.
This shocking revelation may have triggered the resolution of the committee to propose capital punishment for anybody caught in oíl theft in the country.
The Committee explained that the resolution will be presented at the Plenary of the upper chamber as it also resolved to embark on oversight tour of the refineries in Port-Harcourt and Warri in Rivers and Delta states respectively to ascertain the claim by the NNPCL of rehabilitation being carried out at the two refineries.
According to Kyari , the illegal pipelines which has been in use for illegal operation measured about four kilometers in distance from forcados in Delta State to The Sea, and connecting a Loading Port that has operated in the last nine years.
Kyari lamented that though oil theft in Nigeria has been on for over 22 years,the rate it has assumed in recent time is unprecedented making it a source of grave concern to the company and heamoraging of the country’s revenue base.
According to him , 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 NNPCL boss 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 Trans Nembe pipeline If not clamped immediately adding that the spill has led to the country losing another 120,000 barrels per day, in addition to the estimated 600 ,000 barrels lost to oíl theft and illegal refineries in the region.
Kyari stated that, in the course of the clamp down, the company destroyed 350 illegal refineries, 273 wooden , 374 reservoirs were completely destroyed,
1, 561 metal tanks were equally destroyed while over 49 seized trucks were burnt among others.
The NNPCL Chief Executive explained that the implication of the destruction of all these facilities used for illegal operations porten worst oíl spill senario than Ogoni spillage , which have decimated Agriculture, and fishing in the communities.
According to him, NNPCL ,as part of its effort to address this illegal activities, carried out aerial surveillance of the affected areas, and found out that the economic saboteurs carry out their activities unchallenged.