Page 22 - Nigeriaone mag 3 edition en

Revisiting the issue of crude oil theft in Nigeria

Pipeline, illustrative image

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry The chief executive officer further observed that the
(LCCI) held a conference titled, ‘Public-private effect of the enormous amount of oil theft in the
dialogue on crude oil theft and artisanal modular sector resulted in the declaration of force majeure,
refineries’ in Lagos where Gbenga Komolafe, Chief as a result massive loss of national wealth, significant
executive officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum damage to the environment as a result of pipeline
Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) revisited the issue vandalism, hostile business environment with
of oil theft which has become a menace. militancy interference in the oil and gas sector has
This is owing to the fact that Nigeria lost a minimum resulted in sending negative signals to foreign
of $1 billion in the first quarter of 2022 as a result of investors interested in the Nigerian upstream sector.
oil theft. The estimated average of 103,000 barrels As a result of the hostile and unsafe business
recorded in 2021 has worsened and that number as environment, he observed that many operators in the
at the first quarter of 2022 is 120,000 barrels. upstream sector were shutting down production
He mentioned that the daily average production in facilities, and had intentionally refused to expand
2021 was 1.5 million barrels, while the national investments in the sector. Consequently, this further
production advised by NUPRC was 2.2 million barrels worsened the low oil production in the sector as it
a day. affected gas production for export and domestic use
“Consequently, only 58 percent of the technical rate – this caused the price of gas at the domestic front to
was achieved in 2021 and similar performance has increase significantly. And domestic gas users
continued in 2022 hence the need for more lamenting about the sharp increment in gas prices.
concerted efforts across all quarters to stem the In his brief, he said that the commission had made
tide,” he said. concerted and intentional efforts to address and
“Unfortunately, the amount of oil received at the mitigate the challenges faced in the oil and gas
terminals indicates that over one million barrels of sector to ensure that the oil and gas sector could
oil are lost to crude oil theft, amounting to a loss of deliver a production target of 3.2 million barrels
$1 billion in the first quarter of 2022.” daily in 3 years.

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