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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

$20bn gas deals: Firm warns pipeline vandalism could threaten investments

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Nigeria's energy infrastructure faces threats from pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft, jeopardizing over $20 billion in recent gas sale agreements.
  • Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) highlighted the investments as a major opportunity for economic growth and energy security.
  • PINL urged community leaders and residents to collaborate with security agencies to protect critical energy infrastructure, emphasizing shared responsibility.

Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) is calling for enhanced protection of the nation's energy infrastructure, citing significant threats from vandalism and oil theft. These issues could jeopardize over $20 billion in gas sale and purchase agreements recently secured by NNPC Limited.

These projects will stimulate industrial growth, improve energy security, create employment opportunities and support Nigeria’s long-term economic development.

— Dr. Akpos MezehMezeh stated the potential economic benefits of the secured gas agreements.

Dr. Akpos Mezeh, PINL's General Manager for Community and Stakeholders Relations, emphasized that these investments represent a crucial opportunity for Nigeria to expand its gas economy, foster industrial growth, create jobs, and bolster energy security. He noted that the agreements cover substantial daily gas volumes for both LNG feedstock and domestic industrial supply, demonstrating renewed investor confidence in Nigeria's gas sector.

Mezeh pointed to ongoing progress on major gas infrastructure projects, including the near-complete Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline and the largely completed Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline. The commissioning of the ANOH Gas Processing Plant also strengthens domestic gas infrastructure. However, he warned that the potential economic benefits could be undermined if pipelines remain vulnerable to sabotage.

For us at PINL, this project carries a very important message: world-class energy infrastructure can only thrive where pipelines are secure, communities are peaceful, and stakeholders work together.

— Dr. Akpos MezehMezeh warned that economic benefits could be undermined by sabotage and emphasized the need for collaboration.

PINL stressed that thriving energy infrastructure depends on secure pipelines, peaceful communities, and collaborative stakeholder efforts. The company urged traditional rulers, community leaders, youths, and women to work with security agencies and pipeline operators to prevent attacks. Mezeh highlighted the vital role of community members as the first to notice suspicious activities along pipeline corridors, reinforcing that pipeline security is a shared responsibility.

Pipeline security remains a shared responsibility.

— Dr. Akpos MezehMezeh stressed the importance of community involvement in preventing attacks on critical infrastructure.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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