Nigeria Loses 300,000 Barrels Of Oil Daily – Speaker

By Oduyemi Odumade

The Speaker of the House of Representives, Dr. Abbas Tajudeen has decried that Nigeria loses over 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day due to theft, vandalism and other criminal activities.

Dr. Abbas who stated this in Abuja at the inauguration of a special committee to investigate Oil and crude oil theft in the country also said that the nation was reported to be incurring losses of oil revenues estimated at N1.29 trillion annually due to industrial-scale theft.

He stated that oil theft and other oil-related criminalities pose a great threat to the nation’s economy and remain the greatest economic sabotage that has left the country with dwindling revenue.

“Some of the severe consequences of this include revenue loss, environmental disaster, threats to regional peace and security, proliferation of arms, and a poor investment climate”, he said.

The Speaker said that the committee’s primary objective is to determine the causes of oil theft and recommend remedial measures to the House.

He charged the committee members to investigate all dimensions of oil theft, focusing on the actions of all actors, including criminal gangs, militia groups, the local populace, company employees and security agencies.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Alhassan Ado Doguwa said the record from the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI report 2021 indicated that the oil and gas sector accounted for 72.26 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports and government foreign exchange.

He said the sector accounted for 40.55 per cent of government revenue and provided 19,171 jobs.

Doguwa said that in spite of the seemingly robust contribution of the oil and gas sector to the national economy, the country has yet to derive maximum benefits from its abundant hydrocarbon resources.

According to him, this is due to oil theft and losses through pipeline integrity issues, compromises, measurement inaccuracies, outright sabotage and general insecurity in the oil-producing communities.

He stressed that issues of oil theft and pipeline vandalism were not new but remained persistent threats to Nigeria’s economy, environment and national security.

“The urgency of addressing these challenges and bolstering our regulations, technology and security measures cannot be overstated” he said.

Edited By Grace Namiji