NNPC to deploy drones to fight oil thieves

As part of efforts to curb crude oil theft, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is to employ new technology by deploying drones to monitor the inwards and outwards movement of oil bearing vessels.
Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, stated this during a presentation at the special conference on Security in the Gulf of Guinea organised by the Gusau Institute.
He said that the corporation was working on a range of far reaching options designed to end the ugly episodes of crude and petroleum products theft within the next eight months.
Kachikwu, in a statement issued by the firm on Tuesday, said “We are launching an armada of approaches which will include incorporation of drones to check movements of vessels within our territorial waters.
“We are looking at the current logistical nightmares of changing staffing at the loading bay of crude oil export terminals virtually every 90 days, we are trying to equip the navy sufficiently though they are very well equipped in terms of skill set but not in terms of arsenal for patrols within the maritime area.”

Read also: NNPC to run as business, not civil service, Kachikwu says

On the issue of pipeline protection, the GMD explained that though the corporation was working assiduously with the law enforcement agencies to increase the presence of military personnel in the area, the ultimate security for the critical oil and gas assets was squarely with the host communities.
Lamenting the impact of oil theft on the smooth operations of the nation’s refineries, the NNPC GMD warned that if left unchecked, the menace could invariably make it impossible for the NNPC to operate the refineries.
According to Kachikwu, the resort to the use of marine vessels to convey crude to the refineries was coming at a heavy cost.
“What this means is that no matter what we do with the refineries today, unless that is solved, we really are going nowhere, we cannot operate the refineries.”
He said in the last three years a total of 350 persons including NNPC staff, police officers, and community members had been killed as a result of activities of oil thieves.

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