Nigeria loses N105bn to pipeline vandalism —Presidency

THE presidency has expressed worries over what it says is the annual loss of about N105 billion worth of crude oil and petroleum products to pipeline vandalism which it fears may unleash fuel scarcity on the country.  
Government is apprehensive that in spite of its efforts to protect the over 5,000 kilometres of petrol pipelines across the country, thieves have continued to break in to steal products and damage equipment.
A senior presidency source who did not want to be named lamented in a chat with journalists in Abuja on Sunday that vandalism was taking its toll on the petroleum sector, not only in terms of loss of crude and other petroleum products, but also the ability of government to stabilise the petroleum sector.
The source blamed the current pressure on fuel supply and distribution in the country on recent vandalism visited on products pipeline at Arepo where Pipeline Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) engineers who went for repairs were killed recently.
It observed that PPMC was yet to gain access to the damaged points to carry out  repairs.
The presidency noted that the damaged Arepo pipeline was linked with Atlas Cove-Mosimi line which supplies fuel to five depots and also accounts for products supply to the South-West region as well as about 60 per cent of total bridging to the North.
The source pointed out that despite the constant vandalism on petroleum pipelines, it was still easier than the use of trucks to distribute products across the country in view of the vastness of Nigeria with a total land mass of about 910,770 sq km.
According to the source, Nigeria would be guaranteed stable and steady supply of petroleum products “with a robust pipeline network of about 5,120 Km across the nation, 21 loading depots and 19 pumping stations.”
It noted that there have been efforts to resuscitate some abandoned petroleum pipelines in the country to enable the PPMC to constantly pump products across the country, saying, “It is only when the pipelines are not available that they are compelled to use other methods to make the products available. In the absence of security, the vandals have a field day and prevent the pipelines from functioning effectively.
“PPMC have re-commissioned Kaduna-Suleja line, Kaduna-Kano line, Suleja-Minna line, Kaduna-Gusau line, Kaduna-Jos line, Port Harcourt-Aba line and Warri-Benin line. With these lines functioning, NNPC has been able to distribute products to Suleja, Kano, Minna, Jos, Gusau and Aba depots.
“Some of these depots have not worked for over 15 years. It is noteworthy that in spite of the numerous challenges facing the NNPC in maintaining pipelines, products like AGO and DPK that have not been pumped to these depots are now being pumped.
“The successes achieved with the re-activation and rehabilitation of the above mentioned lines are rooted in the strong belief that the pipelines are by far the safest, most efficient, quickest, cost-effective means to distribute products, especially for a country as large as ours,” the presidency source added.
Tribune