The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that a total of 531 million litres of petrol valued at over N50 billion was lost to pipeline vandals between January and September, 2015, at the problematic System 2B Pipeline network which stretches from the Atlas Cove in Lagos to Ilorin.
In a presentation to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream last week, Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, stated that the losses which mostly accrued from the incessant hacking of the pipeline at the notorious Arepo to Mosimi axis of the pipeline artery has made the task of providing seamless flow of petroleum products to retail outlets more burdensome.
This is as the Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Uche Ekwunife, while acknowledging the efforts made so far by the NNPC to ensure unimpeded fuel supply, gave the ministry two weeks to ensure sanity in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.
However, Ogbue maintained that despite the challenge posed by the unavailability of the vital System 2B Pipeline network, the PPMC has continued to ensure that the country remains wet with petrol through massive truck-out from depots in Lagos, Oghara and recently Calabar.
Ogbue further noted that the spirited efforts made so far by the Corporation to attain zero fuel queues across the country are being hampered by the activities of some unscrupulous marketers involved in hoarding, sharp practices and diversion of petroleum products for sale in black markets across the country.
The PPMC MD who lamented the challenge posed by this development, said, “We view this as a distortion to the economy and we have invited the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take action.”
