International syndicates exploited security gap to steal crude oil – Ojulari

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bashir Ojulari, has stated that crude oil theft that characterized the Nigerian oil and gas industry festered due to international syndicates exploiting security gaps in the Niger-Delta region. Ojulari who spoke yesterday at the opening of the Africa Chief of Defence Staff […]

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bashir Ojulari, has stated that crude oil theft that characterized the Nigerian oil and gas industry festered due to international syndicates exploiting security gaps in the Niger-Delta region.

Ojulari who spoke yesterday at the opening of the Africa Chief of Defence Staff Conference in Abuja, however said with collaboration, the government has been able to stem the theft with crude oil receipt achieving 100 per cent remittance.

“Crude theft and its attendant illegal activities are by no means a purely localised occurrence. Rather, these operations involve sophisticated international syndicates that take advantage of gaps within the state’s national, regional and continental security architecture to conduct their illicit activities,” he said.

The NNPCL boss, however, noted that crude theft and pipeline vandalism, particularly in the Niger Delta, are gradually becoming a thing of the past due to the increased efforts of Nigeria’s security agencies.

“Security forms a key pillar of the energy business and therefore plays a very important and strategic role in achieving national, regional and continental energy security goals,” he said.

Ojulari added that, as the head of Africa’s largest national oil company, he has witnessed firsthand the benefits of collaboration in the energy sector, with noticeable improvements in Nigeria’s operating environment.

“The devastating impact of crude theft, low pipeline availability and frequent attacks are now largely behind us. These positive outcomes are the result of deliberate and sustained efforts by our government agencies nationwide, particularly in the Niger Delta.

“Today, I can proudly report that our pipelines and terminals’ crude oil receipts, which had dropped as low as 20% to 30%, are now nearing 100% capacity, thanks to the support of the security forces and intelligence agencies,” he stated.

“This support and collaboration have been demonstrated, as mentioned earlier, with our successes in industry-wide security architecture here in Nigeria, which has greatly reduced the incidence of sabotage, vandalism, crude theft, illegal refineries, illegal bunkering and piracy.

“We envision, by virtue of these gatherings and initiatives, to develop an expanded architecture that takes into account the activities on a regional and continental level with all the enabling tools, policies and technologies to allow seamless synergies and collaboration across borders,” he added.