China's police last year arrested 2,877 people for the theft of oil when they breached the security of oil installations while the nation made efforts to ensure safety measures around such plant was improved, police authorities said on Thursday.

Liu Jinguo, vice minister of public security, said police had probed more than 5,200 cases which threatened the safety of crude oil pipelines and oil fields in the past year at a press conference yesterday.

Nearly 1 billion yuan (US$123.4 million) was recovered for oil companies, he said.

Liu said the number of oil thefts through drilling the pipelines dropped 11.2 percent in 2005 compared to 2004 and the number of thefts through mining oil fields had fallen by 49.5 percent.

Liu attributed the fall to the work of the police. However, he didn't release the exact figures for these crimes.

"The safety of crude oil and natural gas is linked directly to the nation's economic security and social stability," Liu said. He observed that China will have more pipelines in the coming years. He also called for the establishment of a long-term mechanism to guarantee pipeline security.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2006)