Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, has stated that attacks on Nigeria’s oil and gas facilities have dropped from 623 to 94, between 2014 to date.
The Minister who was represented by Mr Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) disclosed this at the Town Hall Meeting on Protecting Oil and Gas Infrastructure, on Monday in Abuja.
What the Minister of State for Petroleum said
Sylva stated that the activities of vandals had greatly affected production in the past, while also noting that vandalism has significantly reduced in recent times.
“First is, underinvestment, you may genuinely not be able to put your money into it, and secondly, you may have the money and not be able to, due to activities of vandals, which can actually stop you from increasing your production.
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This is a challenge in our environment. However, I can confirm to you that it is not all bad news, because from 2015 to today, we have a calmer Niger Delta.
We have far fewer issues on vandals action on our facilities than our access; that means the impact of attacks on our facilities has significantly reduced,” he said.
He added that there were 2 types of oil facility vandals – those who were genuinely aggrieved and seen to be in activism, and those who did it for the purpose of stealing – both of whom constituted a national problem.
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Sylva stated that attacks on facilities polluted the environment and created a new set of problems for everyone, causing the focus to be on the environment rather than revenue.
“In 2014, we had 623 attacks on our pipelines; today in 2021, we only have 94 attacks. This is because some of them are innocent and can’t find clean water to drink and can’t go to their farms.
The issue of attacks on oil and gas facilities is a concern to all of us because it affects all of us and we can do something by communicating appropriately.”
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In case you missed it
Nairametrics reported yesterday that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while speaking at a Town Hall Meeting on Protecting Oil and Gas Infrastructure in Abuja said that it spent N60 billion to repair and maintain vandalized oil and gas pipelines annually.
