The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC Ltd) said it recorded 127 crude oil thefts within seven days between December 2 and December 8.
In its weekly report on the “War On Crude Oil Theft”, the oil company disclosed that it uncovered 51 illegal refineries, 29 illegal connections and discovered eight vessels that had Automatic Identification System (AIS) infraction.
In a post shared on it official ‘X’ handle on Tuesday, the report states that six acts of pipeline vandalism were detected, five illegal storage sites discovered, 13 arrests were made including wooden boats, 11 vehicle arrested in Imo State and three oil spills were reported.
According to NNPCL, the crude oil thefts occurred across various locations in Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Abia and Imo State.
Three thieves were apprehended in Isoko South, while three others are now on the run.
“Two of the arrested individuals identified themselves as, Bernard Innocent from Isoko South in Delta State, and Adam Akpobome Godstime, a resident of Owodokpokpo in Delta State.
“The incident took place in different regions, nine took place in the deep blue water , 50 in the eastern region, 45 in the central region while 23 took place in the western region.”
Persecond News reports that in the period under review, Tantita Security Services Ltd busted a vessel stealing crude oil from a wellhead offshore in Ondo State, after their initial resistance was overpowered by the private security outfit.
The vessel is currently in the custody of the Nigerian Navy and it is reported to have carried out “dark activities” in Ghana on November 29 and between August and October, it engaged in four illegal actions.
With the battle against oil theft yielding good results, economic analyst has predicted that the Nigerian economy is projected to grow at a faster pace in 2024.
According to the expert, this growth will be primarily driven by increased oil production with total production currently at 1.5mbpd for crude and 300,000bpd for condensate.
However, in the latest drilling performance contained in the crude oil and condensate production data for October, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said the country’s crude oil production increased to 1.35 million barrels per day.
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