Gbenga Komolafe, the head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum
Regulatory Commission, said of the 141 million barrels of oil produced in the
first quarter of 2022, only about 132 million barrels of oil were received at
export terminals.
“This indicates that over nine million barrels of oil was lost
to crude oil theft … this amounts to a loss in government revenue of about $1
billion … in just one quarter,” Komolafe said in a statement.
“This trend poses an existential threat to the oil and gas
sector and by extension, the Nigerian economy if not curbed.”
Nigeria loses millions of barrels of crude oil a year
because of theft and vandalism including tapping of crude from a maze of
pipelines owned by oil majors, underscoring how poor security causes vast
financial losses for the country.
Crude oil theft has increased to a daily average of 108,000
barrels in the first quarter of 2022 from 103,000 barrels in 2021, Komolafe
said.
The theft has resulted in the declaration of force majeure
at Bonny Oil & Gas Terminal, a pipeline transporting crude from the
oil-rich Niger Delta to export vessels, among others, creating a hostile
environment and disincentive to investors.
President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to ensure that oil
theft is stopped and has set up dedicated courts to combat the problem, but it
still persists.
Nigeria’s oil minister Timipre Sylva said last week he
expected to see some improvement in security in the sector, enabling Nigeria to
meet its OPEC production quota by the end of August.