The Federal Government of Nigeria has acknowledged the dire state of the country’s oil pipeline infrastructure, revealing that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) lacks the financial capacity to undertake the necessary repairs and upgrades. This admission was made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, during the 2024 Energy and Labour Summit organized by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja. Lokpobiri highlighted the critical need to overhaul Nigeria’s oil pipeline network, which has suffered decades of neglect and corrosion.
Most of these pipelines, constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, have far exceeded their intended lifespan, making them highly vulnerable to vandalism and leaks. Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 15 ( Sept 9 – Dec 7, 2024) has started registrations; register today for early bird discounts. Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and i nvest in Africa’s finest startups here . The minister noted that even if Nigeria were capable of increasing its crude oil production beyond 1.7 million barrels per day (mbpd), the deteriorating state of these pipelines poses a significant challenge to evacuating the oil to export terminals.
“The reason why pipeline vandalism is very easy to do is because the pipelines have all expired; they are completely corroded, and so, anybody can just go and tap it and the thing is.