The Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) said it recorded 774 line breaks on its pipeline from
Lagos to Ilorin depots, this year.The Group Managing Director, NNPC
Engineer Andrew Yakubu decried the unending incidents of pipeline
hacking and product theft which is currently posing great hinderance to
the efficient distribution and supply of petroleum products in some
parts of the country.
Speaking against the backdrop of the
recent line break in Ije-ododo community in Ojo local government area of
Lagos State, Engineer Yakubu said if left unchecked, the nefarious
activities of pipeline marauders could cripple the smooth operation of
the downstream sector of the industry.
Engineer Yakubu who declared open the
3rd Triennial Delegates Conference of the Petroleum and Natural Gas
Senior Staff Association in Abuja, Wednesday said that less than one
week after the vital system 2B was restored after extensive repair work
on the ruptured Arepo point, the Corporation has been compelled to shut
the line owing to Monday’s attack on the Ije-ododo point.
He said: “We had over 774 break points
since August 2012 from Atlas Cove to Ilorin depot. Between Atlas Cove
and Mosimi depot, we recorded 181 break points, from Mosimi to Ibadan,
we had 421 ruptured points and from Mosimi to Ore, we recorded 50
vandalized points. Also, between Ibadan and Ilorin we had a total of 122
break points.”He informed that though the NNPC is
working hard to ensure effective distribution of petroleum products
across the country through increased trucking, the trucking option comes
with enormous cost which is totally unsustainable.
“PIB or no PIB, privatization or no
privatization, no industry can survive under this kind of arrangement,”
he said.Records indicate that with the incessant
attacks on the nation’s vast artery of pipelines, about 70 percent
products distribution is through trucking or what is known in the
industry parlance as bridging into the hinterlands.
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