Nigeria records 148 crude oil theft incidents in Six days – NNPCL
By Kunle Osota
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said it documented 148 crude oil theft incidents between September 2 and 8, 2023.
NNPCL disclosed this through its official X, formerly Twitter handle, on Tuesday.
The company said within the period under review, the theft incidents identified include the discovery of 78 illegal refineries, 14 AIS infractions involving vessels, eight instances of illegal connections, 34 arrests related to wooden boats, eight vehicle-related arrests, the detection of 4 oil spills, one vessel arrest, and one incident of pipeline vandalism.
It added that security agents apprehended the MV Ofuoma at Abuloma Jetty in Rivers State.
Consequently, a vessel was found to be transporting 57,000 litres of illegally refined diesel.
The incident occurred in the Deep Blue Sea, 48 in the Western region, 31 in the Central part, and 55 in the Eastern region within the oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta, including Delta, Rivers and Imo states.
