An End To Crude Oil Vandalisation In Nigeria Is Not In Sight The Way Forward An End To Crude Oil Vandalisation In Nigeria Is Not In Sight The Way Forward

Abstract

Pipeline vandalism, in the context of this paper, refers to the willful or deliberate act of damaging petroleum pipelines with the sole aim of stealing crude oil and associated petroleum products. In the Nigerian oil & gas industry, the effects of pipeline vandalism among others include huge economic losses from pipeline & plant shutdown, environmental pollution, fire outbreaks usually resulting in loss of lives. Scarcity & shortage of petroleum products as well as decrease in electricity supply with the attendant socio-economic problems can also be attributed to pipeline vandalism. In Nigeria petroleum and associated products are transported through extensive network of pipelines that run across different locations throughout the country from remote to populated areas. These pipelines are however poorly secured thereby making them targets of repetitive attacks by vandals. Various steps have been taken by government for efficient service delivery but the problems appear to be on the increase. This paper presents an overview of the existing arrangement of pipeline monitoring protocols and recommended Best Practice for prudent pipeline management in Nigeria. Significant number of crude oil pipeline vandalism in the Niger delta region of Nigeria were carried out by the militant groups on the pretext for a better environmental management and development of the region. This research work examined the relation between socioeconomic, institutional factors and pipeline vandalism using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA is a superior model of analysis since it establishes a better mathematical relationship between observed and unobserved variables compared to other models previously used by other studies such as correlation analysis, ordinary least squares and descriptive statistics. The study involved 269 respondents who were selected from the Niger delta region using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. The results from the study show the existence of a significant and positive relationship between poor management, poor governance, legal, and environmental degradation while significant but negative relationship between marginalization and pipeline vandalism. The study recommends the need for institutional reform through improvement in infrastructural provision, effective governance among others. Unlike other previous studies, our results show no significant relationship between poverty, unemployment and vandalism.