ABUJA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities hope to putan end to rampant oil theft in eight months by increasing droneand naval monitoring of territorial waters and working withlocal communities, the state oil company chief said on Tuesday.
The Niger delta has been plagued by oil theft for years thathas left the region heavily polluted and prompted foreign oilcompanies, particularly Shell, to sell onshore assets.
"We must eradicate oil theft in eight months ... Most of ourproduct pipelines are ruptured and attacked frequently," EmmauelIbe Kachikwu, head of the National Nigerian Petroleum Corp, saidin an emailed statement.
The reason for the deadline was not immediately clear.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that about 250,000barrels per day (bpd) of crude is stolen in Nigeria, whichproduces just over 2 million bpd of oil.
It is used in hundreds of illegal refineries and even forexport. Gas pipelines dependent on crude flows are sometimesforced to close and are even tapped by mistake by those lookingfor oil, which in turn disrupts electricity production.
Meanwhile, the infrastructure delivering crude to Nigeria'srefining system became so degraded that the state oil companywas forced into expensive supply contracts by sea.
"We are launching an armada of approaches, which willinclude the incorporation of drones to check movements ofvessels within our territorial waters," Kachikwu said.
The country has limited and poorly maintained drones. Thosepurchased from an Israeli firm several years ago and that mighthave been used in the fight against the Islamist insurgency inthe northeast of the country have become grounded.
Kachikwu said the "logistical nightmares" of staff changesat the crude export terminals would also be examined and thatthe navy would be better equipped to run patrols in the area.
"The best security for these pipelines lies with thecommunities. We are trying to create enough incentives for themto see these pipelines as their own," Kachikwu said.
Under former president Goodluck Jonathan, ex-delta militantsthat attacked oil installations in the early 2000s were givenpipeline protection contracts after an amnesty, but theftcontinued to grow and spiked ahead of March's election. (Reporting by Julia Payne and Camillus Eboh; Editing by AlisonWilliams)