The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on Thursday, said 531 million litres of petrol, valued at over N50 billion was lost to pipeline vandals between January and September.
The State-run oil firm said this occured at the problematic System 2B Pipeline network which stretches from the Atlas Cove in Lagos to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
In a presentation to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, the Managing Director, Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, said the losses accrued from the incessant hacking of the pipeline at the Arepo to Mosimi axis of the artery. This has made providing seamless flow of petroleum products to retail outlets more burdensome.
Nnamdi-Ogbue said that despite the challenge posed by the inavailability of the vital System 2B Pipeline network, the PPMC has continued to ensure that the country remains wet with petrol through massive truck-out from depots in Lagos, Oghara and recently Calabar.
She however added that concerted efforts made so far by the Corporation to entrench zero fuel queues across the country were being hampered by the activities of some unscrupulous marketers involved in hoarding, sharp practices and diversion of petroleum products for sale in black markets across the country.