Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Navy has attributed the improved oil production in Nigeria to its onslaught against crude oil thieves and economic saboteurs.
The outgoing Commander of NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Ibrahim Suleiman, said this during a farewell parade in his honour in Port Harcourt. He added that the feat was achieved through collaborations with the oil companies.
Mr Suleiman further said the NNS Pathfinder has been instrumental in the increase in onshore crude oil production, adding that since he came on board in March 2022, the issue of illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism has reduced.
He said, “The base was particularly instrumental in the increased onshore crude oil production with the effective support and escort provided during the alternative crude barging operations.
“This, of course, would not have been possible without the collaboration of the Navy and the oil companies.
“I must also commend the synergy that the Base enjoyed with other sister agencies; this has no doubt ensured the peaceful atmosphere being enjoyed in Rivers State.
“The number of illegal cooking camps, the Cotonou boats are in the hundreds, and the number of arrests is over 150 persons. We have handed them over to relevant agencies to be prosecuted. As you know, the Navy does not have that authority to prosecute.”
Speaking on his achievement, the NNS Pathfinder boss disclosed that under his leadership, the Tactical Riverine Assault Squadron (TRAS) was created to stamp out riverine oil thieves.
He noted that some of the changes he inspired were daily physical training exercises, the welfare of personnel, range classification and anti-attack drills.
“I can recall that I assumed Command of this foremost Naval Base on 31st March 2022, and since then, we all collectively had to go through various transformations to enable us to meet contemporary challenges.
“It is pertinent to state that these transformations did not come easy. However, they were key to the successes of NNS Pathfinder in its fight against illegalities within the maritime domain of Rivers State,” he concluded.
Nigeria’s crude production had hit less than 1 million barrels per day earlier this year from challenges ranging from insecurity, low investment, and de-prioritisation of funding of hydrocarbon development arising from the energy transition.
Currently, Nigeria has the technical allowable capacity to produce about 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, but these challenges put the country’s output at around 1.5 million barrels of oil and condensate per day.
