By Abdul Lawal
 
 
More facts have emerged on the reason for perennial fuel scarcity across the country, as Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) revealed that all its petroleum products pipelines network has been shut down across the country.

Dailynewscraft.ng reports that NNPC has over 5000 kilometers of pipeline networks across 21 fuel depots nationwide mainly to distribute refined petroleum products in the country.

 But NNPC Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mele Kyari at the 49th session of the weekly Ministerial briefly at the State House in Abuja said for every product put on the pipelines the Company loses about 30 percent of the product, same faith with crude oil transportation in the country where crude oil theft has made nonsense of its operation and that of oil producing companies in the country

“They are everywhere. And I’ve seen this even in the Niger Delta. There’s no way you would deliver a volume and lose up to 30 percent and you will continue to put those products in this line.” He stated.

In order to address this unfortunate development and put these pipelines network into profitable ventures, Kyari hinted that a National Reserve Company will be established to manage the pipeline networks on a commercial basis to efficiently put them to use for the distribution of products across the country.

The NNPC Chief Executive explained that the investigation on crude oil theft has resulted in the discovery of about 295 illegal connections making it difficult for oil companies to operate efficiently and managing the process has been very difficult raising optimism that the oil operating companies are not helpless.

Dailynewscraft .ng reports that NNPC early this month awarded a crude oil pipeline surveillance contract estimated at N4billion monthly to an indigenous Niger Delta oil and security service company.

This step has however generated a lot of reaction from some agitators in the Niger delta blaming the lack of inclusion in the award of such contracts considering the size of the region and the interest of various oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta areas that were not put into consideration.

Some Ijaw youths also condemned the move which they claimed lacked proper and wider consultation on the parts of the Federal Government.

Kyari at the media briefing on Tuesday blamed several stakeholders for the unwholesome crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region pointing accusing fingers specifically at religious leaders, government functionaries, and Security operatives for this ugly development.

Speaking during the 49th session of the weekly ministerial briefly at the State House in Abuja, NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari maintained that the menace involves every member of the society.

 According to him, the culprits involved in this exercise are members of the society pointing out that crude oil theft operates on the network of vandals as stolen crude oil is found in places like churches, mosques, and even private properties.

“When a fire outbreak happened in one of our pipelines, we discovered that some of the pipelines were actually connected to individuals’ homes. And not only that, and with all sensitivity to our religious beliefs, you know, some of the pipelines and some of the products that we found, are actually in churches and in mosques,” Kyari said.

“That means that everybody is involved. There is no way you will take products, bring them in trucks in populated neighborhoods, load them, and leave without everybody else knowing about it. Everybody includes members of the community, members of the religious leaders, and also and most likely government officials of all natures, including security agencies personnel.

Crude oil theft has affected the nation’s oil production quota which reduced output to about a 1.3million barrels per day against the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Nigeria’s production quota of 1.8million barrels per day.

This development accounts for the dwindling of oil revenue to the country as revenue from crude oil sales accounts for 80 percent of revenue that goes into Federation accounts.