The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and multinational oil companies have been sensitized towards the burying of the pipelines deeply underground, to render it inaccessible to oil thieves and vandals.

This suggestion was given by the Stakeholders at the recent community conference on ‘Oil Theft and Illegal Oil Bunkering’ organized by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta.

According to the stakeholders at the conference who recommended the establishment of a more transparent oil loading system to the oil companies, defeating oil theft and illegal bunkering would require enhanced intelligence gathering system with advanced electronic and community input.

They emphasized on the need for increased collaboration between the international community and the federal government in combating oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta and the Gulf Guinea.

However, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, the SA to the President on Niger Delta while commending the President GoodLuck Jonathan’s effort in defeating oil theft, stated that every effort is required, for only zero tolerance is good enough to restore sanity to the oil sector.