Pilfering Oil Pipes
In 2013, just as the world price of oil reached its peak over the previous five years, drilling companies in South Sumatra lost hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil. This black gold was stolen by professional thieves underwritten by buyers or 'investors' from Jakarta and Singapore.
Groups of thieves siphoned off oil from pipes connecting scores of wells to Pertamina's Refinery Unit III in Plaju, Palembang. The technique is known as tapping, whereby oil from pipes in remote locations, by means of clamps and small faucets, is tapped and drained into containers. Pertamina is said to have lost about 266,000 barrels by the practice. Based on the median price of US$93 per barrel that year, that comes to a loss of US$24.7 million for the state-owned oil and gas company.
April 5, 2016
In 2013, just as the world price of oil reached its peak over the previous five years, drilling companies in South Sumatra lost hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil. This black gold was stolen by professional thieves underwritten by buyers or 'investors' from Jakarta and Singapore.
Groups of thieves siphoned off oil from pipes connecting scores of wells to Pertamina's Refinery Unit III in Plaju, Palembang. The technique is known as tapping,
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