Platts: Nigeria Hands Pipeline Protection Contracts to Oil-Producing Communities

Nigerian National Petroleum Corp Thursday said it has handed new contracts and renewed existing ones for the protection of its oil pipelines by host communities, in a bid to combat pipeline sabotage, which has significantly impacted crude production and fuel supply by the OPEC member country.

Head of Nigeria's Navy Usman Jibrin told parliament March 4 that NNPC was currently losing about 100,000 b/d to theft, due to poor law enforcement presence at the pipelines.

NNPC spokesman Ohi Alegbe said the contracts were initially awarded in 2011 to three unnamed security agencies based in the Niger Delta region, had lapsed in 2012 following which there had been an increase in the spate of attacks on crude oil, products and gas pipelines.

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