NNPC, IOCs to Curb Oil Theft with Joint Security Strategy

Chineme Okafor in Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) wednesday disclosed that it was working closely with International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria to deploy a structured and holistic security strategy against the incidence of oil and gas infrastructure sabotage in the country.

A statement from the Group General Manager, Public Affairs of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja, stated that plans on the new security collaboration with the IOCs was disclosed by the corporation’s General Manager, Group Security Department, Mr. Sam Otoboeze.

According to the statement, Otoboeze stated that the new plan would complement existing efforts of the federal government at securing oil and gas facilities in the country, as well as operations in the industry.
Otoboeze stated that the one-stop-shop security machinery would be tailored at professionally and effectively securing oil and gas environment in line with global best practices for the good of the national economy.

He said the corporation’s security synergy with the IOCs and other security agencies would provide a robust oil production environment that would enable the government make enough money from he sector to effectively fund its annual budget.

Otoboeze equally revealed that the corporation had rolled out a robust community security engagement mechanism where members of oil bearing communities are engaged to secure the oil facilities within their domain, adding that the strategy was paying off with a drastic drop in oil and gas facility breaches.

He however decried the recent upsurge in crude oil sales fraudsters, adding that the corporation would set up a special security desk in collaboration with security agencies in the country to crack down on the scammers.

According to him, the security department would deploy all strategies to raise security awareness among members of staff in order to reduce the incidence of kidnap of NNPC’s staff and domestic theft.

He noted that to avoid unnecessary distractions and insecurity during work hours, the department had also installed access control and security turnkeys to secure the workforce.

Related Articles