The figures alone are enough to cause an outrage, the sort of upset that demands a critical response, like the reaction after the threat of a raging hurricane but Nigerian officials, it seems, continues to respond with the lethargy of a people unsatisfied with sleep.
According to Emmanuel Kachikwu, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, “we lose on average about 50,000 barrels of oil. We lose about $3-$4billion of revenue that is just in terms of crude oil. Last year alone, between June 2014 and June 2015, we recorded between 3,400 to 4,000 attacks on the various pipelines in the country. The effect is a shut-in of about 250,000 barrels a day and when you calculate that, you have a net loss of over $7billion.”
Wait, let’s situate this in a context that will highlight the frightening implications. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), reported $52 billion oil revenue for Nigeria in 2015 and a loss of $7 billion will mean that 13 percent of Nigeria’s revenue was lost to pipeline sabotage. In 2014, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was worth $568.51 billion, a loss of $7 billion translates to one percent of GDP. This is twice the sum Nigeria has approached the World Bank and African Development Bank for as emergency loans. These figures prove that the country is flirting with disaster.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), last year published a report detailing the effect of the activities of pipeline vandals. ‘The system 2E/2EX which conveys products from the Port Harcourt refinery to Aba- Enugu-Makurdi depots onward to Yola-Enugu-Auchi appears to be the haven of pipeline vandalism in the country particularly the Port Harcourt-Aba/Isiala-Ngwa axis recording 8,105 breaks representing about 50.3 percent of the total number of petroleum products pipeline breaks in the country within ten years. The attacks left the NNPC with a cost of N78.15 billion in product loses and pipeline repairs.
The System 2A product pipeline route which conveys products from Warri-Benin-Suleja/Ore depots ranks second on the scale of pipeline break points with 3,259 cases representing about 20.2 percent of the total volume of products pipeline breaks in Nigeria. The figure also came with a loss of over N20.39 billion in products and pipeline repairs.
The System 2B which carries products from the Atlas Cove-Mosimi-Satelite-Ibadan-Ilorin depots recorded 2,440 breaks leading to a loss of over N73.6 billion in products and pipeline repairs.”
Kachikwu gave insight on what is being done in September 2015, speaking at a one-day seminar on Security in the Gulf of Guinea, organised by the Gusau Institute in Abuja, Kachikwu disclosed that oil theft would be eradicated in the next eight months as the corporation has put in place measures to check the menace and bring perpetrators to book.
He stated that some of these measures include the introduction of drones to monitor the pipelines as well as patrol of the county’s coastal waters, equipping and increasing the capabilities of the security services to carry out their responsibilities and the engagement of communities to police pipelines in their areas.
theG&BJournal investigation reveals that most of these technologies are not fully deployed. A check with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), that has the statutory function of monitoring oil pipelines indicate that deploying drones is part of their plans but there are no indications the technology is operational.
The agency tested a new drone fitted with infrared camera designed to document vandalism last year. The drone is said to use GPS to document the times and places where vandals are observed making it easy to prosecute offenders. At the event the NSCDC Commandant General, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu said, “we must find new ways to fight vandalism and this bold step is in line with the change crusade of the President.”
The agency’s personnel still routinely carry out surveillance of the network of pipelines in the country. The problem with armed security patrols is that guards cannot be at the over 16,000 km of pipelines, according to the NNPC, in Nigeria, at the same time.
However analysts have observed that these measures are inadequate. Chambers Oyibo, former GMD of NNPC said, “What we have in Nigeria is very unusual. If they seek the advice of security experts some of their proposed measures may work. Drones may not reveal activities in the night, and only after the event. Burying the pipelines deep in the earth will be a better solution but it is very expensive. Having people watch the pipelines has its risks. If they are vandalised at night, quick reaction may be impossible. No military person can go to the creek at night.”
It would seem that the philosophy underpinning Nigeria’s engagement with pipeline vandalism is reactionary rather than proactive. Response systems are activated only after ruptures are reported as significant investments in proactive technologies remains elusive.
The technologies for pipeline monitoring continue to evolve and the systems improved. European countries are investing heavily in technology to monitor pipelines. Russia engages GMV and tasked the company to pilot and develop an ongoing monitoring system for a 64-kilometer stretch of pipeline. The company adopts a proactive strategy of deploring Satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to create environmental maps and digital relief models to determine ideal placement of potential pipeline routes and monitoring installed pipelines.
Maria Ballester, Project Manager for GMV states, “Satellite imagery and related technologies have long been used to help build and monitor from an economical and environmental perspective but the problem of illegal taps and aging pipeline infrastructure is causing the industry to better use technology to develop strategic plans to proactively respond to these growing problems.”
The cost of building this pipelines and fitting them with efficient technology monitoring systems are high. According to a report by the Oil and Gas journal, in 2013 only, operators build more than 15,300 miles of oil and gas pipelines worldwide at a cost of more than $50 billion.
London-based Silixa Limited provides modern pipeline management systems incorporating real-time leak detection and threat identification system. They utilise fibre cable and distributed sensing technology to monitor continuously the integrity of oil and gas pipelines against leaks and threats.
Some European countries use unmanned airborne or aerial vehicles while others employ optical sensors to monitor pipelines integrity. Optical sensors is the standard in Germany where a 24 hours a day, seven days a week monitoring is enforced. They are similar to the Supervisory Control and Data acquisition (SCADA) systems operating through a network of remote terminal units (RTU) and a central host computer. They gather information and transfer data back to a central site providing detailed analysis and taking necessary automated actions on the way.
The Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), a recent technology in pipeline security employs proactive steps of providing advance warning of events leading up to an incident. It works by creating an acoustic array of virtual microphones every 10 meters along the fibre. The sound received from the virtual microphone is analysed and converted into a simple graphical display showing the operator what is happening along each individual section of fibre.
Last week Monday, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu visited the pipeline network in Robert Village around Atlas cove in Lagos State on a tour to assess pipeline networks across the state. He was shocked to discover a thriving distribution hub built on the back of perforated pipelines.
“I must say that I was very disillusioned to find this but much as I was happy that it was found, it just took a lot of wind off my sail in the sense of what next and who knows how many have not been discovered,” Kachikwu said.
The constant attacks on pipelines and the consequent economic losses to the country demands that disillusionment as response will no longer suffice – especially from those vested with the responsibility of managing the critical infrastructure, hence proactive actions ought to be taken.
theG&BJournal Special Report
