In the last week, Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region has witnessed the discovery of 122 illicit oil refinery installations. The discovery was made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

According to the NNPCL, a gas station in Akwa Ibom State was closed for supplying motorists with unlawfully refined fuel. In Rivers and other states in the oil-rich Niger Delta, 65 unauthorized pipeline connections were found and destroyed in the previous week, according to a documentary issued by the NNPCL on Tuesday.

“310 incidents were recorded between May 18 and 24 across the Niger Delta region,” the NNPCL disclosed while reeling out its efforts in fighting oil theft and vandalism.

A filling station in Grey Creek, Akwa Ibom State, was found to be selling illegally refined petrol. At Tomble II, III, IV, Umuajuloke, Rivers State, Oporomor III, Eduwini, and Ajatiton in Bayelsa State, 122 illicit refineries were observed.

According to reports, vandalized well heads were found in Imo State’s Tomble IV, Rivers, and Egbema. Additionally, a wellhead that had been vandalized revealed a pit full of crude oil.

The energy business reported that they spotted five illicit storage facilities where oil was kept in pits, sacks, cans, and a filling station. In the states of Delta and Imo, twenty vehicles—including a tanker—were taken into custody. Simultaneously, 29 boats in the states of Bayelsa and Delta were seized while transporting crude oil or products illegally processed across multiple waterways.

33 people are reportedly under custody concerning the incidents. Mele Kyari, the chief executive officer of the NNPCL Group, recently emphasized the necessity of combating insecurity in the oil and gas industry to boost output. According to Kyari, vandalism and oil theft are the main causes of the country’s declining crude oil production.

“How do you increase oil production? Remove the security challenge we have in our onshore assets. As we all know, the security challenge is real. It is not just about theft, it is about the availability of the infrastructure to deliver the volume to the market.

“No one will put money into oil production when he knows the production will not get to the market. We removed over 5,800 illegal connections from our pipelines within the last two years. We took down over 6,000 illegal refineries. You cannot get people to put money until you solve that problem,” he stated.

In November, the Nigerian government revealed that more than N4.3tn of crude oil was stolen in 7,143 pipeline vandalism cases within five years.