A Strategic Security Stakeholders’ Meeting was on Wednesday held at the Six Division Army Headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to tackle tbe menace of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region.
The meeting involved the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa; the Security Heads of Operation Delta Safe in the Niger Delta and key stakeholders in the nation’s Oil and Gas Industry.
Also in the delegation were the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; Board Chairman, NNPC Ltd., Chief Pius Akinyelure and the Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed.
During the meeting, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd , Mr. Mele Kyari, assured Nigerians that the menace of oil theft and vandalism of critical hydrocarbon infrastructure in the Niger Delta, which has impacted the nation’s crude oil production, will soon be curtailed.
The meeting is coming narely 24 hours after Kyari reveales that all the security agencies have now agreed to collaborate effectively to eliminate oil theft, following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to increase oil production, grow reserves and enhance revenue generation.
The Niger Delta region is being challenged by the menace of crude oil theft, vandalism and illegal refineries, thereby placing the country at a disadvantage with an estimated loss of 100,000 to 120,000 barrels daily.
In the last nine years, the nation lost $1.84bn worth of petroleum products from illegal refineries, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, had said on Monday.
The Chief Executive of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory, Gbenga Komolafe
in a recent interview, said Nigeria suffers immensely from the negative impact of crude oil thieves, which has affected the nation.