NNPC plans to use Drones to monitor oil vessels movement

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it is working towards the deployment of drones across the nation’s territorial waters to monitor the inwards and outwards movement of oil bearing vessels.

The fresh vista to the fight against the perennial problem of oil theft and pipeline vandalism was disclosed on Tuesday by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

In a presentation at the special conference on Security in the Gulf of Guinea organised by the Gusau Institute, Dr. Kachikwu stated that the Corporation was working on a range of far reaching options designed to end the ugly episodes of crude and petroleum products theft within the next eight months.

“We are launching an armada of approaches which will include incorporation of drones to check movements of vessels within our territorial waters.

“We are looking at the current logistical nightmares of changing staffing at the loading bay of crude oil export terminals virtually every 90 days. We are trying to equip the navy sufficiently though they are very well equipped in terms of skill set but not in terms of arsenal for patrols within the maritime area,” Dr Kachikwu said.