From Uche Usim, Abuja
Cheery news came the way of Nigerians as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday said it recorded a 37.21 per cent decline in cases of pipeline vandalism across the country in January 2021.
This was contained in the January 2021 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), according to a press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Kennie Obateru. The report indicates that a total of 27 pipeline points were vandalised in January 2021 down from the 43 points recorded in December 2020.
The Mosimi Area accounted for 74per cent of the vandalised points, while Kaduna Area and Port Harcourt accounted for the remaining 22 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
Nevertheless, the Corporation said it was continuously working in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders to reduce and eventually eliminate the pipeline vandalism menace.
To guarantee energy security, the Corporation also supplied a total of 1.44 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), translating to 46.30million liters/day, across the country in the period under review. In the Gas sector, a total of 223.55billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in the month of January 2021, translating to an average daily production of 7,220.22 million Standard Cubic Feet per Day (mmscfd).
The 223.55BCF gas production figure also represents a 4.79 per cent increase over output in December 2020. Also, the daily average natural gas supply to gas power plants increased by 2.38 per cent to 836mmscfd, equivalent to power generation of 3,415MW.
For the period of January 2020 to January 2021, a total of 2,973.01BCF of gas was produced representing an average daily production of 7,585.78 mmscfd during the period. Period-to-date Production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) contributed about 65.20 per cent, 19.97% and 14.83% respectively to the total national gas production.