The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has uncovered 122 illicit oil refining facilities in the southern state of Niger Delta in the last week, according to a report by the Nigerian newspaper, The Punch.
The energy group disclosed that the filling station that was closed was done so because they had sold oil that had been illegally refined.
According to a documentary issued by the NNPCL on Tuesday, 65 illicit pipeline connections were discovered and dismantled over the last week in Rivers and other states in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
“310 incidents were recorded between May 18 and 24 across the Niger Delta region,” the NNPCL said concerning the cases of oil theft and vandalism.
The NNPC also reported finding five unlawful storage locations containing oil in sacks, pits, cans, and a filling station. 33 suspects were arrested in connection with the refineries.
Twenty vehicles, including a tanker, were seized in Delta and Imo states. At the same time, 29 boats transporting crude oil or illegally processed goods were intercepted across multiple waterways in Bayelsa and Delta states.
“How do you increase oil production? Remove the security challenge we have in our onshore assets. As we all know, the security challenge is real. It is not just about theft, it is about the availability of the infrastructure to deliver the volume to the market,” the group executive officer, Mele Kyari, stated.
“No one is going to put money into oil production when he knows the production will not get to the market. Within the last two years, we removed over 5,800 illegal connections from our pipelines. We took down over 6,000 illegal refineries. You simply cannot get people to put money until you solve that problem,” he added.
