There’re 4,800 illegal connections on 5,000km of oil pipelines, says Mele Kyari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says there are 4,800 illegal connections on over 5,000 kilometres of oil pipelines across the country. 

Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO), NNPC Limited, made this known while appearing before the senate committee on appropriations on Friday.

The meeting was billed as an interface with members of the committee on the workability of 1.78 million bpd of oil and $77.96 oil price benchmark for the 2024 budget.

The NNPC boss said the oil component of the budgetary projections are realistic and realisable even though the country presently produces an average of 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.

“As it is today, about 4,800 illegal connections are made on the over 5,000 oil pipelines across the country,” Kyari said. 

“The illegal connections on oil pipelines in the Niger Delta is so rampant that within 100 kilometres of the affected pipelines, 300 insertions are made on them, which eventually makes the pipe to be weak to the point of not being able to hold pressure of oil pumped, let alone delivering it to targeted destination.

“Additionally, it is abnormal to engage non-state actors to protect critical assets like oil pipeline.

“We have however responded abnormally and are getting results, because unlike as it was in July 2022 when less than 1.2 million barrels of oil were producing per day, it has been 1.5 million barrels per day within the last two to three months.” 

When asked by Solomon Adeola, chairman of the committee, if the projected oil production can be jerked up to 1.8 million bpd from 1.78 million, he said the projections and parameters set in the proposed budget are realisable.

He said the 1.78 million bpd oil production for the 2024 budget includes condensate which are 200,000 to 300,000 bpd.

He added that as a fully commercial entity, NNPC paid a dividend of N406 billion into the federation account between July and November of this year.  

In his remarks at the end of the interface, Adeola said Kyari has strengthened their convictions on workability of the assumptions and projections of the 2024 budgetary proposals.