The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that it recorded 164 crude oil theft incidents between August 19 to 25, 2023.
The company stated this during its “Energy and You” series shown weekly on the NTA News Network.
As reported by the company, a total of 41 instances of illegal connections, 49 cases of unauthorized refineries, 18 incidents of pipeline vandalism, 37 occurrences of wooden boats being employed for transporting stolen crude, 12 violations of vessels’ AIS protocols, 4 vehicle-related apprehensions, and the identification of 3 oil spills were recorded during the specified timeframe in Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Ondo,
According to the NNPCL report, various tactics are employed by crude thieves to facilitate their illegal activities. Some of these involve connecting pipelines to their storage tanks, while others involve manipulating valves, granting them the ability to control the oil supply at their convenience.
Among these incidents, 12 were documented in the Deep Blue Water region, 22 occurred in the Western region, 79 transpired in the Central region, and an additional 51 were registered in the Eastern region within the oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta.
More insights on crude oil theft
Days ago, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu said that the country was still losing about 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and international thieves despite efforts to end the menace.
According to Ribadu, Nigeria can produce 2 million barrels of crude daily but is currently making less than 1.6 million barrels due to theft and vandalism of pipelines.
He stated further that the value of 400,000 barrels of oil today is about $4 million, and every year, Nigeria loses billions of dollars to crude oil theft.
Meanwhile, in April 2023, the Nigerian Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said that between 2009 and 2020, Nigeria lost N16.25 trillion to crude oil theft.
What you should know
Brent crude prices were well above $85 per barrel as of 9:50 AM (GMT+1), Wednesday morning, following a large drop in crude inventories in the United States which is the world’s biggest fuel consumer, as well as the Hurricane Idalia in the Gulf of Mexico which has kept investors on edge.
The surge in global crude prices was anticipated to translate into higher revenues for Nigeria.
This would hold true if the country were meeting its 2023 budget benchmark of producing at least 1.69 million barrels per day.
However, the persistent illegal activities orchestrated by crude oil thieves have thwarted the nation’s potential to capitalize on increased crude revenues.
This unfortunate circumstance has resulted in a disheartening contraction of the sector, persisting for a daunting stretch of 13 consecutive quarters.
