NIGERIA LOOSES 400,000 BARRELS PER DAY TO OIL THEFT – PETROLEUM MINISTER

Petroleum minister, Timipre Sylva, says Nigeria loses 400,000 barrels per day to oil theft
Nigeria is losing 400,000 barrels per day to crude theft, according to the Federal Government, which has impacted the country’s ability to generate money during a moment of high crude prices.
According to NAN, this was revealed by Dr. Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, during a meeting with Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo at the Government House in Owerri.
The minister continued by saying that Nigeria’s economy might be destroyed by the financial losses due to oil theft.
Sylva stated that oil theft is a “National emergency”, adding that Nigeria “had fallen short of OPEC daily quota, from 1.8 million barrels to 1.4 million barrels, due to crude theft” and also expressed concern that the menace had persisted, in spite of the efforts by the Federal and State Governments to arrest it.
“It is a national emergency because the theft has grown wings and reached a very bad crescendo.
“This is because the thefts are taking place in the communities that host the oil pipelines.
As a result, it has become necessary to involve the stakeholders, especially the host communities.
“And because of the height and orchestrated nature of the menace, Nigeria could not take the advantage and opportunities that abound in the gas production.
“This is because no investor would want to invest where there is incessant insecurity and vandalism of the infrastructure,” he said.
He urged all parties to work together to find a solution and praised the governor for his efforts to keep Imo secure and prevent the collapse of the economy.
• • According to Gbenga Komolafe, the head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory, crude oil theft cost Nigeria an astounding $1 billion in income in the first quarter of 2022, putting the economy of Africa’s biggest producer in jeopardy.
• Of the 141 million barrels of oil produced in the first quarter of 2022, he added, only around 132 million barrels were delivered to export terminals.
• The FGN’s share of oil income was N285.38 billion in the first quarter of the year, reflecting a performance of 39%, while non-oil tax collections totaled N632.56 billion, marking an 84 percent performance, according to the Ministry of Finance. The amounts collected for CIT and VAT, respectively, were N298.83 billion and N102.97 billion, or 99 and 98 percent of their respective goals.

GOGAN Media.