Fuel smuggling and pipeline vandalism: Minister Lokpobiri explainsroot causes
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has identified fuel subsidy and pipeline corrosion as the root causes of petrol smuggling and oil theft.
He made this revelation at the recently concluded Energy and Labour Summit 2024, hosted by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria in Abuja.
Lokpobiri explained that the Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited’s practice of selling fuel below the landing cost has led to a thriving black market, with smugglers transporting the product to neighbouring West African countries.
The minister said, “Nigeria plays a very critical role in the energy security in Africa. That is why whatever PMS we import into Nigeria finds its way to the whole of West Africa. That is why smuggling cannot stop”, he said.
He added, “If NNPC imports PMS and sells to marketers at perhaps N600 or below, there’s no way that smuggling can stop”.
He pointed out further that “The reason why pipeline vandalism is very easy to do is that the pipelines have all expired; they completely corroded and so, anybody can just go and tap it and the thing is busted.
“But there are better technologies which are more expensive, there are better pipelines that other people are using in other countries, but they are not cheap, We also need to change our model”, he stated.
Lokpobiri campaigned for public-private partnerships to fix the old pipelines saying, “That is why we have to go for the global model – PPP. We have to get the private sector to come in.”
