Pipeline Surveillance Contract: Arewa Youths Under Fire Over Attack On Tompolo, Others

Reacting to the development, a Warri-based industry player in the downstream and midstream sectors of the oil and gas sector, Mr. Erefoluwa Keka, described the call to NNPC not to award pipelines’ surveillance contract to Tompolo and other competent indigenous investors from the state as ‘economic sabotage’.

Keka, in a telephone chat, Friday, said that the Mohammed-Kazeem-led AYA, should be thoroughly investigated, “because it makes no sense to call on the management of NNPC to stop the award of pipelines surveillance contract to community leaders in the riverine and rural areas of Delta State, that have handled such project in the past with huge  positive result.

‘I am  particularly shocked by the statement of Abdulsalami Mohammed- Kazeem, considering the fact that the country’s daily production of crude oil has plummet to an abysmally low 1.417 million barrel (short of OPEC production quota) due to pipeline vandalism/crude oil theft.

He queried the rationale behind AYA seething attack against Tompolo saying, ‘What really is the interest of Arewa Youths Assembly as regards competent locals keeping close watch on oil and gas pipelines that pass through their communities, when same group had not offered the necessary intelligence to Nigerian military, to  stop banditry and terrorism in the Northern part of the country’?

Keka, advised the CEO of NNPC, Mele Kolo Kyari, to ignore, ‘the distractive rant by Mohammed-Kazeem’s group ‘and go ahead with award of the pipelines surveillance contract to Tompolo. I strongly believe with the support of Chief Ayirimi Emami, who has been a consistent voice against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, with the requisite competence and experience,  pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft, would be brought to ground zero’.

Kyari said; “When you lose about 200,000 barrels per day, even at an average price of 65 dollars per barrel, we lost close to 1 billion dollars between January and March. From January till date, we lost an average of 250,000 barrels per day and at the current price of about 100 dollars to the barrel, even within this short period, we have lost close to 1.5 billion dollars.

“This situation deteriorated to the extent that by March 7, 2022, it came to zero and so, we shut down the line and declared force Majeure. Even on our most reliable pipeline which is the Forcados pipeline, we still lose about 7000 barrel per day. Needless to say that this is all coming as a result of the acts of vandals and oil thieves,” he said.

Kyari, however, assured the lawmakers that massive joint security operations among agencies were currently ongoing to address the situation.

“Many of these illegal refineries are being taken down and also the insertions are being constantly removed and we believe that these interventions will pay off. And we will be able to restore production. And this is centrally coordinated. There is a coordinated action now because we are using a number of strategies including community based security outfits”, he said.