Huawei moves to help Nigeria tackle pipeline vandalisation, leakage via technology

One of the global leading ICT companies, Huawei Technologies, yesterday said it had developed technologies that would help Nigeria address the problems of pipeline vandalisation and leakage to boost safety and efficiency in the oil and gas industry.

The firm also said it had come up with technology that would solve the protracted challenge of Nigeria not knowing what is produced in the oil sector and the quantity of petroleum products being consumed in the country.

Huawei Senior Energy Solutions Expert (Nigeria Enterprise Business Department), Samuel Orji, who disclosed these at the Huawei Nigeria Digital Oil & Gas Summit 2018 in Abuja, noted that one of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria today is inability to know what is produced in the oil sector.

He said: “We have developed technologies that would solve the problems right from leak detection system, intrusion detection system and also have a robust network. We are also pushing for what we call the optical fibre network, which serves as a means of communication and also has a means of security. You can also use it to do leak detection. If there is any leakage of oil or gas along the pipeline, you can able to discover that and know the precise moment when this leakage occurred. We also have the intelligent video surveillance, which we put along the entire pipeline that before even someone approaches the pipeline, you would have seen it from the command and control centre and you can react and forestall it.

“Today, we are talking about modular refineries and very soon Nigeria will have a lot of modular refineries and we need technology to drive the efficiency and have seamless operation. We have built a strong eco-system with some global partners to deliver high-end innovative solutions in line with customers’ needs and expectations. We also have the joint innovation centres and open lab in Lagos. ‘’

The idea is to sit down with customers and design innovations that are tailored to their needs. We want to put our brand in the face of the key decision-makers within the oil and gas sector.”