25th August, 2019
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recorded in June 77 per cent rise in oil pipeline breaches on its network across the country, according to the corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), the 47th in the series.
In June 106 pipeline points were breached, as against 60 points breached in May. The breaches were mostly committed by oil thieves, both for refined and crude products. The corporation sweetly refers to them as ‘vandals’.
In recent weeks, the EFCC had jailed many oil thieves, in multiple cases across the country.
According to the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamdu, the Aba-Enugu axis in the system 2E pipeline corridor accounted for 25 per cent of the total breached points, while the Lagos Atlas Cove-Mosimi axis of the system 2B had 23 per cent of the compromised pipeline points.
He said the Ibadan-Ilorin leg of the System 2B pipeline accounted for 18 per cent of breaches, followed by the PHC-Aba section of the system 2E, with 13 per cent. Other areas accounted for the remaining 21 per cent of line breaks.
The monthly report, which is part of the corporation’s strategies to open its operations, activities and finances to the public, stated that in spite of the wanton breaches of its critical pipeline network during the period, the corporation ensured continuous fuel supply and effective distribution across the country, saying that during the month under review, 1.76bn litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), translating to 58.65million litres/day were supplied and effectively distributed.
In the gas sub-sector, the June report stated that 223.98billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced, translating to an average daily production of 7,466.09million Standard Cubic Feet Per Day (mmscfd). The figure represents a slight increase of 0.11 per cent compared with the previous month’s gas production.
From June 2018 to June 2019, 3,063.89BCF of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,873.58mmscfd.
Production from Joint Ventures (JVs) accounted for 68.93% of the national gas production, while Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) accounted for 21.34%. The NPDC, an NNPC subsidiary contributed 9.74 per cent.
The June 2019 MFOR was the 47TH in the series.