The high-octane vandalized points were in Ibadan-Ilorin- 90, Mosimi-Ibadan- 69 and Atlas Cove-Mosimi network- 57.
Data from the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) ‘Monthly Financial and Operations Report,’ shows that 257 pipeline points were vandalized in December 2018.
This is an upsurge of sixty vandalization points from November’s total of 197.
The December figure is also higher than the 219 pipeline points petroleum products were siphoned from in October of 2018.
Out of this total of 257 breaches, one pipeline point failed to be welded and six pipeline points were ruptured.
According to the report which was seen on its website by Saharareporters on Tuesday, six pipeline points failed to be welded and two pipeline points were ruptured out of the 197 points damaged in November.
The high-octane vandalized points were in Ibadan-Ilorin- 90, Mosimi-Ibadan- 69 and Atlas Cove-Mosimi network- 57.
These points were responsible for 34 per cent of the breaches. In November, the composition of the top three incision points was slightly altered by the Aba-Enugu pipeline, which had reduced attacks in December.
According to the data, Mosimi-Ibadan, Ibadan-Ilorin and Aba-Enugu were the source of 58, 35 and 34 points, respectively. The vandalization of the corporation's pipelines did not halt its prevention of queues during the yuletide season, as it distributed 1.80 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)- 58.17m liters per day.
According to the December report, the Petroleum Product Marketing Company (PPMC), an NNPC retail subsidiary, sold 1.96 billion litres of petroleum products.
This means there was increased demand in December, as the company sold 1.09 billion litres in November 2018.
In December, PMS made up the largest volume of demand, with 1.94 billion litres delivered. About 7 million litres of kerosene and 140 million litres of diesel were sold in December.
Between December 2017 and December 2018, PPMC sold 21.84 billion litres with PMS consisting of 92.36 per cent. In monetary terms, NNPC made ₦241.46billion from the sale of petroleum products in December 2018, compared to ₦146.56billion sales in November 2018. From December 2017 to December 2018, the firm realised ₦2.8 trillion, and PMS contributed 89.63 per cent of the total sales with a value of ₦2.5 trillion.
In its gas arm, NNPC says 9.15 per cent of gas generated was flared back into the atmosphere. It was, however, able to deliver gas volumes worth 3,131 megawatts of power to the Nigerian national grid. The corporation said there was an increase of 12.22 per cent in gas production and it was able to commercialise 62.61 per cent of the gas produced. Gas flare rate was 9.15 per cent for the month under review.
In all, it had a good outlook for the year ending 2018. The corporation made a trading surplus of ₦12.13 billion. Ndu Ughamadu, its Group Managing Director of Corporate Affairs, said the positive outlook was fueled by its upstream subsidiary, Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).
The crude oil exploration arm of the government-owned corporation was able to produce 300,000 barrels per day during 2019. Ughamadu said NPDC is targeting 500,000 barrels per day by 2020.
Considering the amount of non-audited deductions made from its montly remittance to the Nigerian government for pipeline repairs and the presence of officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at pipelines, the NNPC and the government will need to change its approach to defending its petroleum assets.