Nigeria Loses 400,000 Barrels of Crude Oil Daily To Local and Foreign Oil Thieves in the Niger Delta Region – FG
Federal Government says Nigeria is still losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and foreign oil thieves in the Niger Delta region.
Also, The National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said the stolen crude amounts to $40 million daily.
Ribadu stated this while leading a federal government’s delegation to inspect crude oil and gas facilities at Owaza in Abia State and Odogwa in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday.
In the delegation were the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Airforce Chief Of Staff, as well as Defence Minister, Petroleum resources and oil and gas ministers of state.
Ribadu said the crude oil theft, Nigeria is now producing less than 1.6 million barrels daily, far below its capacity of 2.2 million barrels daily.
He explained that Nigeria now needs more foreign exchange from crude export to strengthen the naira and improve the living condition of Nigeria.
Ribadu said the operators of artisanal refineries collect a small quantity of crude oil when they broke the pipelines while larger volumes of oil were spilled on the environment.
“The value of 400,000 barrels of oil today is about 4 million dollars, and every day, we lose this amount because of this irresponsible behaviour.
“If you multiply 4 million dollars by 365 days (one year), you will see that it is a lot of money running into billions of dollars.
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“Currently, the country is in desperate need of money as the Naira is continuously losing its value because we earn less money.
“If we earn more money, it will not only help strengthen our currency but reflect in everything, including cost of living in the country,” he added.
The NSA said that the President Bola Tinubu administration was concerned about the development and was already taking actionable steps to address the matter.
He said huge investments made by the government in building infrastructures for the common good of all were being destroyed by few individuals, and in the process, destroying the environment.
Ribadu called for a united front to tackle oil theft and end decades of attacks on the nation’s oil and gas infrastructures.
“We are working hard with the security forces and those employed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to secure our facilities and end this madness called oil theft,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on the presidential delegation with the NSA were the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa.
Others included the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar; Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, and Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri.
The Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources, Ekperipe Ekpo, and senior management officials of the NNPCL as well as other top security personnel were part of tbe team.
