NNPCL Uncovers 4800 illegal connections from crude pipelines

Adekunle Adesuji, Abuja

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, on Friday disclosed that there were 4800 illegal connections from the nation crude oil pipeline in the Niger Delta .
The Group Managing Director of NNPCL, Mele Kyari who appeared before Senate Committee on Appropriations chaired by Senator Adeola Olamilekan added that within 100 Kilometers of the pipeline there are over 300 insertions.
He said, “The situation in Niger Delta is a calamity We don’t have this situation anywhere in the world .
“To engage non-state actors to protect critical assets as the last resort for a solution to a massive challenge is very abnormal and should not have happened in the security of asset
“We responded abnormally , today , we have over 4800 illegal connections on our pipelines
“In some lines , Within 100kilometers of pipelines, you will have as much as 300 insertions
“Every kilometer there is an insertion, and pipelines , when these insertion are continued and sealed up , it cannot longer hold the pressure.”
Kyari while.lamenting the issue of Oil theft in the Niger Delta revealed that Nigeria lacks credible data for daily consumption of petroleum products because there was no Infrastructure to determine it.
According to him, the country does not have credible data for National Consumption, because we do not have the infrastructure to get this
“Before June we were doing up to 66.7 Million litres of evacuation, today we are down to 45milion litres.”
He said that NNPCL has paid about N406 billion to Federation Account between July to November.