OREANDA-NEWS. The Petroleum Tanker Drivers arm of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has commended the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu, on the great work he is doing in rehabilitating the nation’s pipelines.

The union expressed its appreciation to Engr. Yakubu during a courtesy visit to the Corporation’s Headquarters in Abuja by a delegation of the National Executive led by its National Chairman, Dr. Timothy Ogbu, on Thursday. 

Ogbu said the union was very impressed with the GMD’s effort in rehabilitating the pipeline and depots which had been giving all operators in the downstream sub-sector of the petroleum industry nightmares over the years.

“We want to thank the GMD for the successes recorded in this area and hope that the tempo will not only be sustained, but also be improved upon in other areas that have been bedeviled in the industry such as the Aba – Makurdi – Yola line, the Ibadan – Ilorin line, and that of Warri – Kaduna –Jos – Gombe – Maiduguri”, Ogbu stated.

The Chairman said his union cherishes the cordial relationship between it and NNPC and promised to ensure that the harmonious relationship is sustained for the good of all Nigerians.

Engr. Yakubu, on his part, thanked the union leaders for recognizing the effort of his management in aggressively addressing the downstream infrastructure challenge, adding that the commendation was for him and the Corporation a call to do more.

He explained that the rehabilitation of the pipelines and depots is only a part of the mandate given to him by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, which includes the rehabilitation of the refineries for optimum capacity utilization.

“We can’t achieve optimum capacity utilization in the refineries without having the pipelines and depots in good shape for effective product evacuation and distribution, that is why we are fixing them so that by the time we complete the rehabilitation of the refineries we won’t have any problem with distribution and storage,” the GMD said.

The NNPC helmsman said the Corporation was deploying the Horizontal Directional Drilling Technology at all the trouble spots where pipeline sabotage and products theft are rife across the country, adding that the process has already been flagged off at Arepo.
 He thanked the tanker drivers for their support in moving over 1,000 trucks of petroleum product across the country daily at that critical period last year when the System 2B Pipeline was down.