Nigeria records 131 crude oil theft incidents in a week – NNPCL
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reported via its official Twitter account on Tuesday, November 14 that Nigeria recorded 131 crude oil theft incidents in a week.
According to the NNPCL report, during the period highlighted, there were 24 illegal connections, 43 illegal refineries, 17 pipeline vandalism acts, 23 vessels AIS infractions, 5 wooden boat arrests, 10 vehicle arrests, 4 oil spills, 3 illegal storage sites and 2 vandalism acts.
The NNPCL report also revealed that across the oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta region, an aerial shot showed that there were a good number of illegal refineries operating under the cover of trees. Meanwhile, the incidents recorded for the highlighted week took place across various locations in Imo, Abia, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers states.
The report also stated that during the highlighted week, 21 suspects were arrested across the affected locations. Also, 10 of the crude oil theft incidents took place in the Deep Blue Water, 33 took place in the Western region, 43 in the Central region, 45 in the Eastern region.
It is important to note that the crude oil theft challenge is impacting oil production as well as gas output in the country. The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has not lifted its one-year force majeure on the Bonny plant due to crude oil theft as it is impacting feed gas supply. This has led to the company operating at less than 50% of its capacity.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government through Ms. Olu Verheijen, the Special Adviser on Energy to President Tinubu has said that the administration is focused on resolving the crude oil theft menace and tackling the environmental issues in the Niger Delta region.
It is also important to note that in September and October 2023, data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that the country’s crude oil production was at 1.5 million barrels per day – the highest levels so far for the year.
The World Bank anticipates a rebound in Nigeria’s crude oil production between 2024 and 2025.
However, they caution that this anticipated recovery might fall short of the assigned quota figures set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
This means that while there’s an expected improvement, it might not reach the levels OPEC has allocated to Nigeria for oil production.
Bear in mind that OPEC has reviewed Nigeria’s crude oil production quota downward. So, from 2024, the country is expected to start producing 1.38 million barrels per day, unlike the 1.7 million barrels per day quota we currently have.
