Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the crude oil theft narrative in Nigeria must move past mere discussions to action.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this during his address at the February 21 Stakeholders’ Conference on Crude Oil Theft and Losses in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s biggest threat: During the conference, Prof Osinbajo expressed outrage that an industry that is so essential to the Nigerian economy is attacked by criminals. He said:
- “It is an affront to our claims of sovereignty that an industry so crucial to our collective wellbeing, is under such brazen assault by criminal elements. A crime so grievous cannot simply be a subject of discussion, people must do their jobs and if they are unable to do them, then there must be an accounting for such failures. Institutional and personal reputations are at stake.”
Government’s efforts so far: Prof. Osinbajo highlighted some efforts made by the Buhari administration to tackle crude oil theft which he termed economic terrorism. According to Prof. Osinbajo, the administration has invested significantly in scaling up the country’s maritime security architecture.
In June 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure Project, known as the Deep Blue Project – a collaborative multiagency effort involving the armed forces, the police, and the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA), jointly led by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Defence.
The project provides air, naval, and land assets for surveillance, policing, and search and rescue operations in coastal waters and exclusive economic zones.
What you should know: Although the issue of crude oil theft has been a lingering problem in Nigeria for decades, the challenge escalated in 2022, with Nigeria recording about 900,000 barrels of oil per day of crude production in Q2/2022.
During the February 20 Petroleum Club Quarterly Dinner held in Lagos state, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said that it recently conducted a forensic audit on the scale of crude theft for the period between January 2020 and November 2022.
The commission said the audit has shown that 40% of the volumes thought to be lost to crude oil theft were actually due to inaccuracies/metering errors in measurement at oil and gas facilities.
Tackling metering errors
The NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe reportedly said that the commission is committed to dealing with the issue of metering errors by ensuring that Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) licensed directly as agents of the commission will be responsible for deployment and maintenance of metering facilities across Nigeria’s oil and gas facilities, for transparency in hydrocarbon accounting.
Recall that in November 2022, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno, inaugurated a special investigative panel to check crude oil theft in the country. Monguno was worried that the country was set to lose $23 billion to crude oil theft in 2023 if the problem was not checked.