Pipeline vandalism reduces by 20%

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that its renewed efforts towards combating oil theft may have yielded the desired result as pipeline vandalism has reduced by 20 percent as against the 58 percent reduction recorded last December.
Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru , stated this at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Nigerian Oil Gas (NOG) Conference in Abuja yesterday.
The GMD stated that the 20 percent reduction was achieved on a monthly basis.
He said the remarkable feat was as a result of ongoing stakeholder engagements in the Niger Delta, saying the operating environment has greatly improved compared to what obtained in the past.
‘‘We will continue to improve on our existing approach to engage stakeholders, Indigenes in the Niger Delta region on the need to embrace peace and dialogue in order to move the country forward in a bid to shore up government revenue. This is an indication of friendly environment for business,’’ he said.
Recall that NNPC had in its December monthly report said that it recorded about 58 per cent reduction in cases of pipeline sabotage.
According to the report, only 18 cases of vandalized points on downstream pipelines were recorded in November 2016 as against 43 in the previous month.
The downward trend in the cases of pipeline sabotage, according to the report, was due to sustained engagement with stakeholders by the Federal Government and the NNPC.