The Centre will step up vigil against pilferage of crude oil under a joint mechanism with States and oil marketing companies, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. He said 57 cases of pilferage of crude oil during transportation had been reported so far this financial year, up from 47 cases last year.

Raising supplementaries during Question Hour, members cutting across party lines drew the Centre’s attention to rising oil pilferage. Sona Ram, a BJP MP from Barmer, Rajasthan, said he had drawn the attention of the local authorities, but his complaints had not been taken seriously. “These matters should not be left to the States and oil companies,” he added.

Best practices

“The world’s best practices are being implemented for the safety of crude pipelines. We, in coordination with the State governments, will take the matter to its logical conclusion,” Pradhan assured the House, adding that digital technology is being deployed to monitor theft. The Minister said public sector oil firms are doing round-the-clock monitoring of pipeline flow and pressure through supervisory control and data acquisition system for pipelines, daily foot patrolling, electronic surveillance as well as patrolling by local police.

Published on March 2, 2015