Nigeria loses $5bn to oil theft annually – Shell boss

Posted by admin Headlines, Oil Politics Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

THE Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigeria Plc, Mr Mutiu Sumonu, on Tuesday, told members of the House of Representatives that Nigeria loses $5 billion annually to oil theft.

The Shell boss, who made the disclosure while addressing the House joint committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Navy, investigating “unprecedented upsurge of illegal oil bunkering activities in Nigeria’s coastal region,” said, “Nigeria loses approximately 150,000 barrels of oil to illegal oil bunkering daily and $5 billion annually.”

However, the absence of Chief of Defence Staff, Chief Naval Staff, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Managing Director of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Managing Director of Chevron, among other key stakeholders, almost marred the hearing.

Sunmonu, who also raised the alarm on the activities of oil thieves, said the trend, if not properly checked, would spell doom for the country’s economy.

To this end, he said, “there must be political will by all stakeholders to be able to fight illegal oil bunkering. Every tier of government must be involved in the fight against illegal oil bunkering.”

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, who declared the investigative hearing open, said the effect of illegal oil bunkering was telling on the economy of the country, saying that “time has come to use an enduring legislative framework to fight the malaise.”

Tambuwal, who was represented by the Deputy Minority Whip of the House, Honourable Ah-med Mohammed, said.

“Illegal bunkering is one intractable problem facing us. Several billions of naira, as well as security personnel have been lost to the threat. It affects our oil, which is the mainstay of the economy and the earlier we get rid of it the better,” the speaker noted.

He added that the National Assembly would continue to respond to challenges which put the nation at financial, environmental and security risks, by putting in place the best legislative frameworks that would fight the menace to a standstill.

Earlier, chairman of the House committee, Honour-able Muraina Ajibola, had raised the alarm over the 500,000 barrels per day crude theft through illegal bunkering from the approved Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota of two million per day.

He added that the figures had put Nigeria as a leading country of crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, adding that the House would make laws that would make institutions strong and functional.

-Tribunewp_posts