The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has said that it recorded 157 incidents of crude oil theft between December 30, 2023 and January 5, 2024 in different parts of the Niger Delta.
It made this known in the weekly TV show, Energy and You, aired on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).
The incidents recorded range from illegal refineries, illegal connections, oil spills, illegal storage sites and pipeline vandalism.
According to the report, there were 52 cases of illegal refineries, 32 illegal connections to pipelines, 25 cases of pipeline vandalism, two incidents of oil spill and three cases of vessel infarction among others.
The incidents were reported by both oil companies like the AGIP, SPDC, and government and private security agencies like Tantita, the NNPCL Command and Control Centre.
Further details, as contained in the report, showed that 52 illegal refineries were discovered in Owazza, and Oguzor in Abia state, Ohaji-Egbema in Imo state, Omoku in Rivers state and other communities in Bayelsa state and that they were subsequently destroyed.
The illegal connections reported were discovered in Olodiama and other communities in Bayelsa state, and Udu in Delta state. In Okrika and Ebocha in Rivers state, the NNPCL reported the vandalisation of oil well heads in those communities.
Of the total incidences of crude oil theft recorded, around 9 were recorded in the deep water while the majority of cases were recorded in the Central and Eastern regions of the Niger Delta with 95 and 45 cases respectively.
