Abuja, Nov. 7, 2023 – Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), says there is critical need to address oil theft and pipeline vandalism in Nigeria.
Orji said this in a key note address at the ongoing 2023 International Pipeline Technology and Security Conference in Abuja.
He said putting an end to pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft was vital for rebuilding trust in the sector, reinstating investor confidence as well as supporting economic growth.
Orji said that oil theft and losses had escalated to a national emergency and posed a significant threat to oil exploration and exploitation
He said Nigeria recorded 7,143 pipeline vandalism cases in five years for which the country spent N471 billion on repairs.
The NEITI executive also said Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of crude valued at N46 billion between 2009 and 2020.
He said the value of crude oil lost between 2009 and 2020 was higher than the size of the country’s foreign reserves and almost ten times Nigeria’s oil savings in the Excess Crude Account.
Orji said Nigeria also lost 4.2 billion litres of petroleum products from refineries valued at $1.84 billion at the rate of 140,000 barrels per day from 2009 to 2018.
He said that crude oil theft was being perpetrated in Nigeria by pipeline clamping and four other ways.
Orji listed the other ways as illegal connections on major pipelines, exploitation of abandoned oil wellheads and pipeline breakages. (GBN)
