Aiteo Raises the Alarm over Alleged Attacks on Nembe Creek Trunk Line

Aiteo Raises the Alarm over Alleged Attacks on Nembe Creek Trunk Line

Peter Uzoho

Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Development Limited has raised the alarm, alerting stakeholders of alleged sustained attacks on its Nember Creek Trunk Line (NCTL).

Aiteo in a statement issued yesterday by its spokesman, Ndiana Mathew, regretted that despite significant investment in security, technology and civic engagements, the destructive pattern of pipeline vandalism still persisted.

According to the statement, ‘’these attacks are persistent; sophisticated; appear timed to inflict debilitating and disruptive effect, all indisputably calculated to decimate Aiteo’s production output in the short if not medium term. And, regrettably, these vicious and malicious exertions by individuals and faceless entities are having that unavoidable effect.

‘’The disruptions that these attacks have brought about have led to direct, irretrievable and significant losses in production and consequently have created revenue deficits that directly impact all the stakeholders across the relevant value chain.

‘’The consequences say nothing of the significant negative and inherently damaging effect that these malicious infractions have on the environment.’’

Aiteo said that findings from Joint Investigative Visits (JIVs) in 2019, comprising security and regulatory agencies as well as community representatives has revealed that 98 per cent of all incidences was attributable to third-party infractions alone

It added that the amount of barrels lost to the incidents was almost compared in volume to the country’s total daily production, saying by virtue of this level of sabotage, the NCTL has been shut down for 61 days this year alone, constituting 83 per cent cause of downtime in this year only.

The statement further reads: ‘’over the last four years, more than 200 shut down days have been recorded on the asset. Industry sources forecast that Nigeria will be producing at least 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by the middle of 2020, mainly by fixing damaged pipelines and dealing with security problems.

‘’In the face of this extremely high level of deliberate sabotage, it seems clear that there are interests within the country that seem determined to scuttle this aspiration.

‘Aiteo wishes to state that this continued sabotage of critical economic oil assets must be confronted frontally, with all resources available to the country as a whole. We renew and reaffirm our total commitment to working with all agencies and interest groups to arrest this damaging atrocity.

‘’Our assurance to all stakeholders to ensuring a sustainable environment where economic development can thrive remains unassailable.

‘’We acknowledge the assiduous effort of the Joint Task Force and call for wider collaboration between all law enforcement agencies as well as policy alliances between all arms of government to end these economically  destructive infractions as soon as is practically possible.

‘’The losses to us as a commercial concern are significant and potentially irreparable: the losses to Nigeria through the deprivation of revenue as a direct enabler for the improvement of the quality of life of our people is so much greater. The disastrous subsistence of this malaise must be permanently resolved now.’’

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