The managing director of Chevron/Mid Africa Unit, Mr Richard Kennedy, has described crude oil theft in Nigeria as an organized crime that should be differentiated completely from host community issues.
Kennedy, who spoke as a panelist at the recently concluded NOG Conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital, said the level of theft, which according to him, is costing Nigeria millions of dollars daily in lost revenue, could have helped solve its fiscal challenges.
On the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, he noted that there is need not to confuse the agitations of host communities of oil-producing areas with the spate of crude oil theft being carried out in the area.
“From my experience, the issue with crude oil theft should not be confused with host community issues. It is much much much bigger than that. It is completely different from host community issues. Quite frankly it is organized crime.
“The volume of crude that is being stolen is well beyond comprehension. You can see some of the figures in the press, maybe it’s about 100,000 barrels per day at $100 per barrel and that’s $10 million per day that is being stolen. And NNPC owns 60% while taxes of 85% are paid so it’s a huge loss for the country.”
On his part, Wale Tinubu, the Group CEO of Oanda, revealed that about 20% of Nigeria’s daily crude production is lost to oil theft.
“There has been a 43% reduction in our production from March 2020 to May 2022. We lose almost 20% of our daily crude production to oil thieves and pipeline vandals and 20,000 barrels a day of oil is lost to oil theft. Basically some three million barrels on average yearly is lost to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.”
