Fed Govt Urged To Expand Scope Of Pipeline Protection Contract

Following the sustained record of increased oil and gas production in recent times, stakeholders from pipeline and crude oil host communities have asked the federal government to expand the security contract of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL)

PINL is the surveillance contractor in charge of the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), which crisscrosses the four states of the Niger Delta: Rivers, Bayelsa, Imo, and Abia.

Speaking at the September engagement held on Thursday in Port, TNP stakeholders attributed the increased oil and gas production to the positive impact of PINL on oil and gas host communities.
Recall that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulation Commission, NUPRC in a recent statement, stated that

Nigeria’s gas production figure rose to an average of 7.59 billion standard cubic feet in July, just the same way it had earlier reported a consistent increase in crude oil production.

The commission said Nigeria has witnessed sustained steady growth over the past three years, with daily average production hitting 7.59 bscf and a simultaneous decline in flaring. It added that the feat underscored the commission’s drive to boost production while advancing its 2030 zero-flare commitment.

This, it said, marked an 8.58 per cent increase compared to the 6.99 bscfd recorded in the full year of 2024.

“The 7.59 bscfd daily average also represents a 9.84 per cent increase from the 6.91 bscfd posted in the full year of 2023, which shows a sustained rise in gas production.”

President-general, Orashi People’s Congress, Emeni Ibe expressed happiness with PINL. “Our people which includes Abua/Odual, Ahoada East and West, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni have asked me to convey their gratitude for regularly holding this stakeholders meeting”, he stated.

He added, “Our area is criss-crossed with several oil pipelines and in the campaign against vandalism, we have agreed to partner with the PINL.

“We are calling on the federal government to provide more funds to the company. We are pleased with their trainings and their scholarship for our youths. This is what we are expecting and if these things are done, pipeline vandalism will be a thing of the past.

“PINL is changing the narratives in our area so I join others to pass a vote of confidence on PINL.”

Also speaking, Ajenkebiokpomaa Orlu, from Soku community said his people want the federal government to include the community in the scope of job covered by PINL.

“We have been hearing about PINL in Rivers State and other neighboring communities but it’s like a surprise to us because Soku as a major player in the oil and gas sector, we are not part of their operations. We are supposed to be part of it as major oil bearing community with the largest gas plant in West Africa and other oil facilities.

“I’m here to tell Federal Government, NNPCL and PINL to include Soku community in their scope of job and mostly for the Federal Government to expand PINL’s scope of work in the area to include Soku oilfield.”

Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the engagement, Dr. Akpos Mezeh, General Manager of Community Relations and Stakeholder Engagement, explained that Soku Tombia, Rumuji, Ogba, Abha, and Gbarain all host gas lines, “and we have engaged workers from those communities to help secure the lines.”

He hoped the federal government would expedite action by expanding PINL’s contract to cover those areas.

Dr. Mezeh stated, “Soku is a major oil and gas host community. Because our current contract on TNP does not cover Soku, we’ve been able to cover them based on the limited resources we have. So far, we’ve been doing wonderfully well there courtesy of the support we get from the community, and there has been no incident of vandalism in Soku.

“We are calling on the Federal Government to expedite action on the formalising the expansion that we are already doing to cover the areas outside our primary mandate.

“We have gas lines in Soku, Tombia, Rumuji, Ogba, Abha, and Gbarain. We have engaged workers from those communities to help secure the lines, and we hope that the Federal Government will expedite action in expanding our contract to cover those areas.

“We have expanded our operations into gas and we are into the sixth month and the results are clear and from the report of NUPRC, gas production has increased.

“We’ve done a lot to ensure that gas facilities are given adequate protection. We have engaged more workers from the communities where gas lines are criss-crossing and although that’s not our primary area of responsibility but we are doing that as a duty call to ensure that we support the Federal Government and that’s why we are calling on the Federal Government to formalise the work that we are already doing.”