The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) says the cooperation with Nigerian security has significantly reduced the scale of oil theft in the Niger Delta following the discovery of several illegal pipes.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the ongoing Energy and Labour Summit 2022 organised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Mr Kyari, in a keynote address, spoke on ‘Energy Transition: Positioning the Nigeria Energy Industry for the Future(Government Perspective)’.

The NNPC boss, while speaking on a wide range of industry issues such as Energy Transition, Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the new NNPC Ltd, and tackling crude oil theft, underscored the need for collaboration to halt crude oil theft to spur economic growth.

“The situation of vandals’ action on our pipelines and generality of crude oil theft has reached the point that it needs all to react. The government, security and regulatory agencies, whether service or operating are on the table today,” he said.

Mr Kyari, while expressing optimism that the country will have access to more crude oil and revenue in the coming weeks, said the PIA passage had made the industry competitive, bringing companies back for investments while business decisions were being made.

Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), commended PENGASSAN for organising the event.

(NAN)