The Federal Government has so far paid $4.04bn to five international oil companies as cash call arrears repayment and has spent N12.43bn this year on pipeline protection and maintenance, it was learnt on Sunday.
Latest update on pipeline security/maintenance cost obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited showed that the N12.43bn was spent by the government through NNPC between January and June this year.
Figures from the oil company indicated that pipeline security/maintenance gulped N1.1bn, N368m and N2.61bn in January, February and March 2022 respectively. The NNPC spent N498m in May and N8.35bn in June to secure and maintain its pipelines, while the firm subtracted N464m in April from the total amount during the review period.
Nigeria’s crude oil production has continued to slump due to the repeated vandalism of pipelines and attendant theft of humongous volumes of crude. The N12.43bn spent in the first six months of this year to protect pipelines came as the oil company recently contracted the surveillance of its pipelines to a contractor, a development that elicited diverse reactions.
On August 30, 2022, NNPC said its award of multi-billion naira pipeline surveillance contract to a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, was the “right decision.
