The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) revealed the discovery of 165 illegal refineries across the Niger Delta in the past week. A documentary by NNPCL, recorded between June 15 and 21, reported approximately 400 incidents of oil theft and vandalism, as noted by both government and private security agencies.
The documentary highlighted that 69 illegal connections were found and disconnected in Bayelsa and Rivers States. Additionally, eight oil spills caused by vandalism or illegal connections were reported across the region.
In Warri, Delta State, an illegal loading point was uncovered. NNPCL reported that 69 illegal refineries were dismantled in the swamps of Okrika, Rivers State, and the construction of an ‘oven’ for illegal crude oil refining was halted. Similar illegal refining operations were discovered in various locations in Abia and Bayelsa States.
NNPCL also disclosed the discovery of 19 illegal storage sites containing stolen crude and illegally refined products in Delta, Imo, Rivers, Abia, and Bayelsa States. Furthermore, 11 vehicles were seized in Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa States, and 39 boats carrying stolen crude were confiscated in Rivers, Delta, and Bayelsa States. Eight individuals were arrested in connection with these incidents, according to Channels TV.
This crackdown comes amid declining crude oil production and Nigeria’s struggle to meet its OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day. NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, emphasized the critical need to address security challenges in the oil and gas sector to boost production.
Kyari stated, “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. No one is going to put money into oil production when they know 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 invest until you solve that problem.”
