NNPCL spent N34.4bn on pipeline maintenance in 18 months

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited spent almost N34.47 billion to repair and manage pipelines in 18 months following increased incidents of vandalism.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s recent data on the Oil and Gas Report indicated this.

NEITI figures covering 2021 showed that N22.05 billion was spent on pipeline repairs and maintenance.

Also, between January and June 2022, the NNPCL said it spent N12.42bn on pipeline maintenance and security.

In the first six months of 2021, the NNPCL disclosed that 350 pipeline points were vandalised.

The NNPCL said it had, in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders, continuously striven to reduce the menace of pipeline vandalism.

The Group CEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said that introducing Operation White and the Automated Downstream Operations and Financial Monitoring Centre enabled the corporation to monitor product supply and distribution across the country.

He said it had reduced illicit practices, such as oil theft and cross-border smuggling of petroleum products, which used to cause dislocation in the supply and distribution matrix and huge revenue losses to the country.

In January 2021, the national oil company said 96 companies from various jurisdictions had indicated interest in rehabilitating its downstream facilities, ranging from critical pipelines to depots and terminals, through the Build, Operate and Transfer financing model.