The total value of Nigeria’s crude oil stolen between January 2021 and February 2022 is about $3.27bn (representing N1.361tn at the official exchange rate of N416.25 to the dollar), the Federal Government declared on Thursday.
International oil companies and their counterparts in Nigeria said the massive oil theft across the country currently posed a threat to not just their existence, but to the Nigerian economy.
The Federal Government through its Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, met with the Oil Producers Trade Section, as well as the Independent Petroleum Producers Group in Abuja at a stakeholders’ engagement on crude oil theft. OPTS is a body comprising IOCs operating in Nigeria, while IPPG is an association of indigenous exploration and production companies.
A presentation by the NUPRC at the event indicated that oil theft rose sharply between 2021 and 2022, as an official of the IPPG stated that about 91 per cent of total crude produced at the Bonny Terminal was stolen in January 2022.
In its report on the trend in oil theft, the NUPRC said, “Total value loss for the period January 2021 to February 2022 is about $3.27bn. “Average monthly value loss for the period is about $233.99m. Average daily value loss for the period is about $7.72m.”
