NPDC loses N1.5 trillion to attacks on assets

Launches kidnap for ransom policy
The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the exploration and production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), lost about N1.5 trillion to attacks on its facilities from January till date.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the 2016 NNPC security awareness in Abuja yesterday, lamented the rising cases of criminality in the country especially in the oil and gas industry.

Speaking on the theme, ‘NNPC security: A task for all stakeholders’, Baru stated that the development has led to massive loss of lives and assets of oil firms operating in the country.

He explained: “At industry level, we are all conversant with the seriousness and frequency with which national assets in form of pipelines, flow stations etc. are vandalized and crude oil and white products stolen with impunity. In 2016 for example, NPDC alone recorded 59 security incidents resulting in crude production shut down/deferment and revenue loss of over N1.5 trillion.”

He urged Nigerians to do everything possible to help protect the national assets, adding that governments at various levels were doing much to fight criminality and that success can only be achieved when all stakeholders imbibe the consciousness that security was a task for everyone.

The GMD also launched the corporation’s Kidnap for Ransom Policy to raise staff awareness on the need to avoid actions that pre-dispose them to falling victim to kidnaping, especially at a time when kidnapping for ransom has become very rampant.

Baru charged staff of the corporation to participate actively in the activities of the security awareness week to imbibe ideas that could help them.