‘Nigeria now losing 40,000 barrels of crude daily’

Posted by admin Headlines, Oil Politics Friday, January 3rd, 2014

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State on Thursday said the Federal Government had succeeded in bringing down the volume of crude oil being lost to thieves in the country to about 40,000 barrels from 100,000 daily.

Uduaghan said this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after attending a meeting inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the reduction was as a result of some measures put in place by the government.

The governor expressed the belief that the figure would soon be further reduced.

He said, “Let me emphasise that the volume of crude oil theft is reducing. Again, I must explain that at a time, oil theft was at its peak; there was a shut-in of about 300,000 barrels of oil as a result of damage to two major pipelines; and at that time, between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels were being stolen.

“That was the time we took some measures to ensure that the quantity that is being stolen is reduced.

“Today, I can tell you that the crude that is being stolen is reduced to about 40,000 barrels per day. Those two pipelines are now functioning. So, the 300,000 that was shut in as a result of the damage to the pipelines have now been opened.”

Uduaghan added, “Stealing 40,000 barrels per day is still on the high side, but as we go further in putting a lot of measures in place, especially in the area of prosecution, I believe that the quantity that is being stolen will gradually reduce, if possible, come to zero level.

“Apart from prosecution, we are also talking of technology and monitoring to deal with oil theft.”

On the defection of some Peoples Democratic Party governors to the All Progressives Congress, Uduaghan said anything could happen in politics.

He said, “In politics, any person can take any position. So, you must be ready for anybody that is ready to take any position. Just as people are leaving the party, people are also coming to the party.

“The thing is that as a party, there is no doubt that we have challenges at the moment, and I think the President is taking initiatives to organise various meetings that will quickly deal with these issues.”

-Punchwp_posts