Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has shed light on the ongoing issues of fuel smuggling and pipeline vandalism, attributing these problems to fuel subsidies and outdated infrastructure.

Speaking at the recently concluded Energy and Labour Summit 2024, organized by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja, Lokpobiri explained that petrol smuggling from Nigeria to neighboring West African countries continues because the Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) sells fuel below the actual landing cost.

“Nigeria plays a very critical role in the energy security in Africa. That is why whatever PMS we import into Nigeria finds its way to the whole of West Africa. That is why smuggling cannot stop.

“If NNPC imports PMS and sells to marketers at perhaps N600 or below, there’s no way that smuggling can stop,” Lokpobiri stated.

On the issue of pipeline vandalism and oil theft, Lokpobiri pointed out that much of Nigeria’s crude oil pipelines are outdated and have deteriorated, making them easy targets for criminals.

“The reason why pipeline vandalism is very easy to do is that the pipelines have all expired; they completely corroded and so, anybody can just go and tap it and the thing is busted.

“But there are better technologies which are more expensive, there are better pipelines that other people are using in other countries, but they are not cheap, We also need to change our model”, he stated.

To address these challenges, Lokpobiri emphasized the need for public-private partnerships (PPP) to overhaul the country’s aging pipeline infrastructure.

“That is why we have to go for the global model – PPP. We have to get the private sector to come in,” he said.