Economy & Politics
Nigeria loses $41.9 billion to crude oil theft in 10 years
Nigeria lost $41.9 billion to crude oil and refined products theft between 2009 and 2019, a report obtained by Nairametrics disclosed.
Nigeria lost $41.9 billion to crude oil and refined products theft between 2009 and 2019, a report obtained by Nairametrics from Nigeria Extractive Industries Initiative disclosed.
Details
According to the policy brief of the agency, which was released on Wednesday, the nation lost $38.5 billion on crude theft alone, $1.56 billion on domestic crude and another $1.8 billion on refined petroleum products.
- In 10 years, Nigeria lost more than 505 million barrels of crude oil and 4.2 billion litres of petroleum products valued at $40.06 billion and $1.84 billion respectively.
- Cumulatively, total crude and product losses for the period amount to $41.9 billion. This is the size of Nigeria’s entire foreign reserves.
- On average, Nigeria lost $11.47 million daily, $349 million monthly, and $4.2 billion dollars every year for the past 10 years.
- Pipeline repairs, a direct consequence of vandalism, is a major index of losses in the oil industry.
- Between 2014-2016, total expenditure on pipeline repairs was N363 billion. This is excluded from the data in this paper as only losses of crude and products are considered.
Impact of menace
In the face of current dwindling revenues, paying priority attention to curb oil theft in the country’s oil and gas industry had become both necessary and urgent to expand revenue generation.
Proffered solution
NEITI urged the government to embrace oil fingerprinting technology, comprehensive metering infrastructure of all facilities and other creative strategies to combat the growing menace of theft of Nigeria’s crude oil and refined petroleum products.
It disclosed that Nigeria lost an average of $11 million daily, which translated to $349 million in a month and about $4.2 billion annually to crude and product losses arising from stealing, process lapses and pipeline vandalism.
“While figures from government put the loss at between 150,000 and 250,000 barrels per day, data from private studies estimated the figure to be between 200,000 and 400,000bpd.”
What it means
This implies that Nigeria may be losing up to a fifth of its daily crude oil production to oil thieves and pipeline vandals.
On comparative analysis of the size and implication of the losses to the country’s current dwindling revenue profile, NEITI renewed its appeal to the government to curb oil theft to reduce budget deficits and external borrowing.
The transparency agency stated that the value of crude oil and allied products so far lost was equal to the size of Nigeria’s entire foreign reserves.
It stated, “Stemming this hemorrhage and leakages should be an urgent priority for Nigeria at a time of dwindling revenues and increasing needs. What the country lost in 20 months in fiscal terms was enough to finance the proposed budget deficit for 2020.
“In terms of volume, 138.000 barrels of crude oil was lost every day for the past 10 years, representing seven per cent of average production of two million bpd. Nigeria lost more than 505 million barrels of crude oil and 4.2 billion litres of petroleum products between 2009 and 2018. What is stolen, spilled or shut-in represents lost revenue, which ultimately translates to services that government cannot provide for citizens already in dire need of critical public goods.”
Economy & Politics
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala close to being announced as new DG of WTO
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is expected to be announced as the new DG of the World Trade Organisation.
Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, is close to being appointed as the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
READ: Okonjo-Iweala gets Organised private sector’s endorsement for WTO job
According to Reuters, a group of ambassadors also known as “troika” has proposed Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to lead the WTO giving her a clear path to becoming the first woman to head the WTO since it started 25 years ago. The three ambassadors are thought to wield significant powers in determining what is a very “intricate and opaque” process.
READ: Buhari assures Okonjo-Iweala that the country will push until she emerges WTO DG
Most Nigerian Media houses have already announced NOI as the winner of the process even though this is yet to be made official by the WTO.
The winner for the role of DG of WTO is expected to be announced formally by the WTO later today.
However, there appears to be a new twist, in the expected announcement of her emergence as the new Director-General of the WTO.
The United States through its representative at the WTO has insisted that the South Korean candidate is still in contention and that Washington will not recognize Okonjo-Iweala as the consensus candidate for appointment as Director-General.
As a result, the General Counsel of WTO, postponed the announcement of a new Director-General until November 9, after the US presidential election, after further consultations would have been made.
The announcement of Okonjo-Iweala, who is reported to have gotten the support of a vast majority of members states, including the EU, Japan and China, as the new boss of the World Trade Organization, would have been a huge boost for Africa
Economy & Politics
Kano State presents N147.9 billion budget for 2021 fiscal year
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Economy & Politics
Why Okonjo-Iweala should win the WTO DG role – Prof. Moghalu
Professor Kingsley Moghalu has thrown support behind Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to win the World Trade Organization top job.
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, has publicly canvassed support for Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to win the World Trade Organization (WTO) top job.
The former professor of public policy at Fletcher School, Tufts University, made the disclosure via his official Twitter handle, as seen by Nairametrics
READ: WTO: Okonjo-Iweala invites volunteers, says she has no money for PR firm
Prof. Moghalu made a strong case for why Africa’s candidate should be considered for the top shot, noting that the need for Africa to get a better deal in the world trading system should be a major criterion in selecting the next WTO DG. He also believed that correcting this negatively skewed trade deal will help tackle poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.
The dynamics of world trade are rigged against Africa, keeping the continent poor and undeveloped. In this piece for Project Syndicate @ProSyn I make a strong case for why Africa’s candidate, @NOIweala, should be selected as the next Director-general of @wto https://t.co/G4Fyxd1z91
— Kingsley Moghalu (@MoghaluKingsley) October 26, 2020
READ: WTO: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala gets European Union support
What you should know
Nairametrics had earlier reported that Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee have emerged as the last two candidates for the top WTO job.
Prof. Moghalu also disclosed that the final selection decision is expected this week or very early next week.
(READ MORE:WTO DG: Okonjo-Iweala gets the backing of 79 countries so far)
Prof. Moghalu said, “The dynamics of world trade are rigged against Africa, keeping the continent poor and undeveloped. In this piece for Project Syndicate @ProSyn, I make a strong case for why Africa’s candidate, @NOIweala, should be selected as the next Director-General of @wto.
“The final selection decision is expected this week or very early next. Alongside the case for why the African candidate Okonjo-Iweala is best placed to lead WTO, I make the case for the continent more broadly as to how and why it must get a better deal in the world trading system.”
READ: WTO accepts nomination of Okonjo-Iweala as DG despite opposition from Egypt
What this means
If finally selected for the top job, the opportunity will present Dr. Okonjo the platform to solve some global trade-related issues, one of which is Africa’s trade position with the rest of the world.
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