…Kyari attributes success to ‘Rectangular Approach’
Nigerian’s oil output has risen to 1.67 million barrels per day, though some millions short of the 1.8 million bpd quota approved for the country by the Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC).
To this development, the group chief executive officer of NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, said company’s ‘rectangular’ security approach was already working.
The ‘Rectangular’ approach comprises the NNPC and partners, regulators, government security operators and the communities, boosted by the adoption of technology, which ensured the recovery of production from what it was in July 2022 to 1.67 million barrels per day.
The NNPC boss who was represented by the NNPC chief upstream investment officer, Bala Wunti, at an energy event chaired by Vice President, Femi Osinbajo, said the implementation of the ‘Detect, Deter, Destroy’ and Recover (3D strategy) has been a game changer in the fight against crude oil theft and vandalism.
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Also, he explained further, the establishment of the central command and control center for effective monitoring and coordination, the launch of the whistle-blowers portal and the crude oil validation portal as well as the deployment of some of the best-in-class surveillance tools and technology had helped in chasing crude thieves away.
According to Kyari, a key element of the collaboration had been the on-boarding of the private security contractors from the host communities, which were hitherto isolated, and which attracted so much suspicion.
The security contractors’ in-depth knowledge of the terrain and modus operandi of the criminals, the NNPC boss stressed, had led to massive discoveries of illegal connections and interception of vessels ferrying stolen crude oil.
Kyari said with the current sustained efforts, facilities that have been shut down have reopened, and injection of crude oil into major trunk lines for evacuation to the terminals was being ramped up.
By Ken Okoye
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