Bayo Ojulari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, says the country has attained nearly 100 percent pipeline and terminal crude oil receipts due to the support of the security forces and intelligence agencies.
Ojulari spoke on Monday at the 2025 African Chiefs of Defence Staff summit.
“Today, I can proudly report to you all that our pipelines and terminal crude oil receipt, that was somewhere as low as 20 to 30 percent some periods back, we are attaining close to 100 percent due to the support of the security forces and intelligence agencies,” the NNPC chief said.
“Again, this achievement would not have been possible without the professionalism, the discipline, the collaborative spirit of our defence and security institutions.”
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Speaking in the light of rising geopolitical tensions, Ojulari reaffirmed NNPC’s commitment to supporting the efforts of security and intelligence agencies.
He further emphasised the company’s readiness to strengthen collaboration and cooperation with the military and other relevant institutions to safeguard national interests.
“This support and collaboration have been demonstrated, as mentioned earlier, with our successes in industry-wide security architecture here in Nigeria, which has greatly reduced the incidence of sabotage, vandalism, crude theft, illegal refineries, illegal bunkering, and piracy,” Ojulari said.
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“We envision, by virtue of these gatherings and initiatives to be developed, an expanded architecture that takes into account the activities on a regional and continental level with all the enabling tools, policies, and technologies to allow seamless synergies and collaboration across borders.”
The GCEO assured that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector “stands ready to complement this effort, as we eagerly articulate the benefit to be accrued for the ultimate upliftment of all the stakeholders as citizenry across our borders”.
Ojulari noted that through collective effort, participants can safeguard Africa’s resources, strengthen peace, and create an enabling environment for the continent’s prosperity.
In August 2023, Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), said Nigeria lose 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to criminals and economic saboteurs.
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Ribadu explained that Nigeria has the capacity to produce 2 million barrels of crude daily, but the country is struggling to achieve it due to theft and vandalism of pipelines.
Ojulari said international syndicates are behind the crude oil theft.
