Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, says the country was currently losing about $1.9billion monthly to the activities of oil theft, with its attendant effect on environmental degradation.
This is as the NNPC boss lamented that the country has been unable to meet OPEC’s production quota of 1.99million barrels of crude oil per day.
According to him, losing $1.9billion monthly due to oil theft was colossal, with its attendant devastation to the nation’s economy and the Niger Delta environment.
Kyari spoke when the Federal Government delegation on anti-oil theft led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, visited Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa at Government House in Asaba, recently.
“As a country, we hardly meet our OPEC production quantum of 1.99 million barrels per day with our current production level of 1.4 million barrels per day which is currently being threatened by the activities of these economic saboteurs.
“This has done extensive damage to the environment and losing $1.9 billion every month is colossal, considering the nature of the global economy at the moment,’’ Kyari disclosed.
Kyari appealed for the support and buy-in of Niger Delta State governors in the fight against oil theft, saying “because stopping this oil theft requires the concerted efforts of the Federal, State Governments, oil companies and security agencies”.
Also speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, who is coordinating the security intervention against oil theft, lamented that security agencies had been dealing with issues of illegal refineries and oil bunkering across the Niger Delta.
Irabor also advocated for the engagement of indigenes of host communities in the fight against the criminal activity.
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