The Group CEO of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari, has called on the military to sustain the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
He expressed delight that the current onslaught against the menace has yielded improved growth in the nation’s crude oil production.
In a statement issued by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, he said that Kyari made the appeal when he received in audience the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa who led senior military officers on a courtesy visit to the NNPC Towers in Abuja, on Tuesday.
He said, “I personally call for enhanced and sustained security engagement. This is because we have reached a new peak in production that we haven’t seen in the last three years.
“This is clearly related to the sustained efforts by the armed forces and other security agencies to protect our critical assets, particularly the pipeline infrastructure in specified areas where we are working closely with these agencies.
“We are already seeing the results transforming into increased production.”
Kyari commended General Musa and his team for their unwavering commitment to securing the nation’s critical hydrocarbon assets especially in the Niger Delta region in recent months, saying that the achievements were not only crucial to Nigeria but also to the global energy community.
He expressed optimism that the CDS and his team would deliver on the Presidential mandate to mitigate security-related challenges affecting the nation’s crude oil production.
Responding, General Musa explained that the visit was intended to introduce the Monitoring Team that would be responsible for interfacing with the Company and other stakeholders in the oil-producing regions to secure the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.
The CDS said the military would sustain the onslaught and analyse the troops’ capabilities to enhance their performance and bolster productivity.
The CDS stressed the need to ramp up production for a prosperous economy and reassured collaboration with intelligence agencies, private security, state governments and host communities for enhanced performance.