The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has dismantled over 600 illegal refineries in the past two years, according to its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari.
He made this disclosure during a stakeholder engagement event between the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists and the NNPCL in Lagos over the weekend.
Kyari also revealed that the company has removed 5,800 illegal connections to Nigeria’s crude oil pipelines during the same period. He noted that the country is aiming to increase oil production to 1.7 million barrels per day in the coming months, up from April’s 1.28 million barrels per day.
Emphasizing the importance of addressing security issues in the oil and gas sector to boost production, Kyari stated, “How do you increase oil production? Remove the security challenges 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 will invest in oil production when he knows the production will not reach the market. Within the last two years, we have removed over 5,800 illegal connections from our pipelines and over 600 illegal refineries—cooking pots or whatever they were. You simply cannot get people to invest in it until you solve that problem,” he added.
Follow the Parallel Facts channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaCQSAoHgZWiDjR3Kn2E
