Nigerian Army Destroys 2000 Illegal Refineries In Niger Delta ).

YENAGOA, Nigeria — Nigeria's military on Tuesday said it had arrested 50 suspected oil thieves in the past three months and destroyed some 2,000 illicit refineries this year in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.

While unrest in the region has sharply declined since a 2009 amnesty deal, crude theft and illegal refining of petroleum products has increased, said Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Antigha, spokesman for a task force in the delta.

"The operation started early this year and we destroyed about 1,500 local refineries in Nbiama and Ahoada communities between March and July," he said.

He said another 500 had been destroyed more recently.

Powerful Nigerians and even the military itself have been accused of involvement in the lucrative illegal oil industry, which can include a relatively sophisticated level of theft and refining.

The military has denied involvement in the practice in Africa's largest oil producer.

Stolen crude and illegally refined petroleum products have been exported and sold on the black market.

Oil firms blame theft and sabotage for the majority of oil spills in Nigeria -- a claim strongly disputed by activists.

Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil producers, but its Niger Delta region remains badly polluted and deeply impoverished,

  Link  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g-tK9TkFF-JjNQZv64uET7eE4HoQ?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.671


Isn't it interesting that we have 2000 illegal refineries working at full capacity in Nigeria, while the state owned legal refineries are either suffering breakdowns or working below capacity?   Is this not the more reason why the refineries should be privatised, as the Nigerian state has shown that it cannot manage any commercial concern efficiently or profitably?   Over to you Nairalanders, let's have your views.

kulutempa:

Agence France Presse (AFP) has just reported that the Nigerian army has destroyed 2000 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta in the past 3 months.  Link  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g-tK9TkFF-JjNQZv64uET7eE4HoQ?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.671


Isn't it interesting that we have 2000 illegal refineries working at full capacity in Nigeria, while the state owned legal refineries are either suffering breakdowns or working below capacity?   Is this not the more reason why the refineries should be privatised, as the Nigerian state has shown that it cannot manage any commercial concern efficiently or profitably?   Over to you Nairalanders, let's have your views.

Why don't you take a look at one of these illegal refineries before you start comparing them to a full fledged refinery?

The illegal ones are very small scale, crude, unsafe and produces lots of pollution. They cannot be 'privatized'

I wonder why those things are called refineries, to start with they only refine desiel poorly. Its the same method that is used for distilling local gin from palm wine. Its been years since i visited a gin maker in the woods if not i would have snapped a picture so you see the contraption called a refinery.

blink182:

I wonder why those things are called refineries, to start with they only refine desiel poorly. Its the same method that is used for distilling local gin from palm wine. Its been years since i visited a gin maker in the woods if not i would have snapped a picture so you see the contraption called a refinery.

This is funny, so many false statements. These production facilities may not be as advanced as the government refineries, but they are not as small or crude as you would want the outsiders to believe. Why do you need to snap a gin operation? I don't know what you get from twisting the truth but please try and curtail the BS.

texazzpete:

Why don't you take a look at one of these illegal refineries before you start comparing them to a full fledged refinery?

The illegal ones are very small scale, crude, unsafe and produces lots of pollution. They cannot be 'privatized'

Old boy, they are already 'privatised' The point I am making is that the government has no business running refineries and the like in Nigeria. The fact that we have illegal refineries tells me that there is a demand gap in the market that the owners are trying to fill. The government should get out of the refinery business and let free market capitalism take over. I take your point about the illegal refineries being crude and unsafe, but at least they don't suffer "frequent breakdowns" and "lack of spare parts" like the inefficient government owned ones. I sometimes wonder why we fail to see the obvious solutions to our problems in Nigeria and insist on policies that are doomed to fail.

2000 illegal what? hope they know the meaning of refinery and are not referring to the confiscating of 2000 jerry cans from roadside hawkers of petrol; this is how we deceive ourselves in this country.

Johndoe100:

This is funny, so many false statements. These production facilities may not be as advanced as the government refineries, but they are not as small or crude as you would want the outsiders to believe. Why do you need to snap a gin operation? I don't know what you get from twisting the truth but please try and curtail the BS.

there is nothing false in my statement. Those things are not fit to be called refineries, dare me by showing pictures of the ones you have visited and i will have to send someone to soap the pic of a functional one . Some of these things are so crude that they are about 2 200 litre drums welded together and heated with open flame.

I will really be impressed to see one that can distill two products.

kulutempa:

Agence France Presse (AFP) has just reported that the Nigerian army has destroyed 2000 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta in the past 3 months.  Link  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g-tK9TkFF-JjNQZv64uET7eE4HoQ?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.671


Isn't it interesting that we have 2000 illegal refineries working at full capacity in Nigeria, while the state owned legal refineries are either suffering breakdowns or working below capacity?   Is this not the more reason why the refineries should be privatised, as the Nigerian state has shown that it cannot manage any commercial concern efficiently or profitably?   Over to you Nairalanders, let's have your views.

You are very right. Rather than destroy these crude refineries, they must be standardised to follow due process (technically, environmentally and in line with health and safety practices). They should be encouraged and legally supplied with crude for their operations.
Such an attitude will go a long way to augmenting Nigeria's refining capacity and boosting our technological know-how and prowess. Indeed GEJ mentioned bringing the illegal refiners into the mainstream during the elections, I am hoping that we hear much more in that direction.

Some of the refineries are pretty sleek operations:

[img]http://img.modernghana.com/thumb.aspx?img=XGltYWdlc1xjb250ZW50XGFmcF9uaWdlcmlhbl90cm9vcHNfcmFpZF9pbGxlZ2FsX3JlZmluZXJpZXMuanBnfDc1MHwxMC8xOS8yMDEx[/img]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iALfAo8T-h6Q4KNq4yQ4Nb10DGAw?docId=CNG.6c4645ce2c3aff875cec6a3515475b82.af1

While others are terrible, environmental nightmares:

[img]http://api.ning.com/files/Jh2H0KSUuQNB-4IYALCJ56nh1KYmXwrDIdsyVys0Rl3q8cDy47mJNRExnP3hngMVsPr5Gwf84DTD46-KiecucXIJW1t6n*xO/NIGERIANSOCIALNETWORK.6.jpg[/img]

Beaf thank you for the pictures, so people can see what the so called refineries look like. From the second pic, it seems they are condensing a second product,

How can somebody in his rightful mind call those contraptions refineries?

otokx:

How can somebody in his rightful mind call those contraptions refineries?

Dude, there is nothing that cannot be cleaned up and legalised. What you see those guy's doing is practical technology and thats something Nigeria lacks. While the country phucks along importing fuel, those guys are making it and showing the way to go.

I can bet you that if JTF wasn't destroying those places by the thousand and govt gave them a look in, we would have proper running industries in place. In fact, we can sort our refinery shortage by simply regulating the practice.

Has the concoction produced via those drums been checked to see if it really is petrol? What about the impact environmentally? The crude they get is most certainly stolen from oil pipes and that is the major reason this practice has to be stopped.

How can i get to start this business, Would i need to 1st register this with CAC, Cuz this is oil money smelling, and i can smell it from the picture. In 5years time you would hear that JTF destroyed my refinery, By then i would be a Billionaire

Beaf:

Dude, there is nothing that cannot be cleaned up and legalised. What you see those guy's doing is practical technology and thats something Nigeria lacks. While the country phucks along importing fuel, those guys are making it and showing the way to go.

I can bet you that if JTF wasn't destroying those places by the thousand and govt gave them a look in, we would have proper running industries in place. In fact, we can sort our refinery shortage by simply regulating the practice.

Beaf, I have never liked your posts and by extension your person (not personal though). But, i love you for this.

If the govt could put up a regulation of practice for these dudes, in few years from now, there would be intense competition and before you know it, we would have full fledged refineries.
But you know what? The govt would not do that cos it lacks the will to do it

otokx:

Has the concoction produced via those drums been checked to see if it really is petrol? What about the impact environmentally? The crude they get is most certainly stolen from oil pipes and that is the major reason this practice has to be stopped.

If there is appropriate regulation, there would not be need to steal and environmental impact would be checked.
Come to think of it, have you considered the environmental as well as psychological impact of generators that you use as substitute for NEPA.?

I only know that there can't be counterfelts where there are no genuine ones. the gap left by the inability of the government to build refineries, is what is being occupied by these ones. Am not surprised the army is roaming the nooks and crannies, destroying people's livelihood without any alternative plan. That's all they are good at. A hopeless army that kill its own innocent and defenceless citizens with pride.

otokx:

Has the concoction produced via those drums been checked to see if it really is petrol? What about the impact environmentally? The crude they get is most certainly stolen from oil pipes and that is the major reason this practice has to be stopped.

ma guy u re right!for those who wants the government to showcase dat nonsense called refinery,do u want other countries to see our poor mentality,our sense of negative creativity,dude why do u hate humanity?we sympathise wit people in dat area but what they re doing is not right unless u view it wit a biased sight!

Great things starts small as they say,if these things recieve govt backup in terms of legalisation and finance,they tend to be very effective in solving our refinary problem,provide employment and develop our craftmanship

Ayowumie:

Beaf, I have never liked your posts and by extension your person (not personal though). But, i love you for this.

If the govt could put up a regulation of practice for these dudes, in few years from now, there would be intense competition and before you know it, we would have full fledged refineries.

Guy, don't make me laugh, if you were a babe with swinging hips I would be concerned. But wetin I wan take dry bones do?

I am always for doing things and encouraging Nigerians to have a go. We keep approaching foreigners to build stuff for us, but here are Nigerians doing that same thing; all that is needed are encouragement, regulation, a legal supply of crude and before long we would have companies that are ready to build mammoth refineries in foreign lands. Google started in a garage, Apple computers started in a room; but a few short years later, today those companies are the biggest in the World.

If only we could look at the technologies practised at street level (mainly by the the impoverished), Nigeria would be a great country, but we always want to decieve ourselves with big projects built by oyibo (for the benefit of oyibo). It is the little things that matter.

Not only destroying of the illegal peasant refineries but for the law to allow the operators face 50 years or more jail sentence.

@ beaf, word well spoken, if i may ask, are these local refineries owned by poor or average nigerians? cos i sensed that these guys have the backing of eminent politicians of this our sick country.

DCAT:

@ beaf, word well spoken, if i may ask, are these local refineries owned by poor or average nigerians? cos i sensed that these guys have the backing of eminent politicians of this our sick country.

They are owned by "boys."
Some of those boys have made it big from the trade, but they cannot waste money building better structures only for JTF to destroy them the next week; so we keep having those horribly polluting things littering the place.
We desperately need some sort of legislation to look into these refineries and straighten them out into 100% legal operations for the good of the country. I sense that the PIB will sort such things out.

No justification for the destruction of those illegal refineries,where are our refineries? Absolutely nothing good with this Govt. of ours.

It is very wrong for the FG to destroy these so called illegal refinery, since the legal refineries in Nigeria have failed to produce even up to the illegal ones. Instead, the need to empower and legalise these small refinery is highly needed in meeting the PMS demand in Nigeria alone. it will also reduce the stress of importing PMS into the country and save the need for subsidy palaver.

thaddeus85:

  No justification for the destruction of those illegal refineries,where are our refineries? Absolutely nothing good with this Govt. of ours.
   

You know what, if truth be said these 'illegal' refineries  contribute more to the Nigerian economy than our corrupt and incompetent government that spends billions of dollars every year importing petroleum products into Nigeria and using our precious foreign reserves to sustain jobs and investments in other countries.   My response to those complaining about the pollution and environmental impact of these refineries is simply this:  can you even begin to compare the environmental pollution from these refineries to the millions of cubic feet of gas that Shell and other oil companies flare into the atmosphere everyday, from their operations in the Niger delta?

Clamping down on working refineries that doesn't need endless TAMs and removing fuel subsidy IMO is contradictory in effect.

If those refineries were in China, Nigerian govt. will allow its products to be imported into this country as in the case of substandard electronics. Mscheew, haters of its people.

^^^^
That comment doesn't make any sense dude!

@all4naija: it's like u are among million in lagos whom the ministry of health pronounced they are mentally challenge. if i may ask u, what will u do if u are pushed to the wall? how many of these bastards who call themselves our leader have been jailed for looting this country dry.

These refineries are far from sophisticated.

[flash=320,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUi1eT3d58M[/flash]

Apart from willful sabotage of petroleum pipelines, they also damage the same ecosystem their communities depends on.

[flash=320,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5xnpH18L84[/flash]

DCAT:

@all4naija: it's like u are among million in lagos whom the ministry of health pronounced they are mentally challenge. if i may ask u, what will u do if u are pushed to the wall? how many of these bastards who call themselves our leader have been jailed for looting this country dry.

Woof! I don't know what you are talking about. How did you know that I live in Lagos? Another psycho!

So the government will start feeding them in jail? Gosh! The are supposed to be paying tax.