9 September 2011, Sweetcrude, Abuja- Nigeria loses N775 billion annually over non-metering of oil wells and inaccuracy ship-to-shore loading and offloading of vessels, according to Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga.
Dr Aganga, who made this known while speaking on the ministry’s achievements in the last 100 days. said: “Nigeria is one of the few countries where there are no measures to ensure the fairness, legality, accuracy and quality control of all trade transactions in all sectors of the economy in line with international best practices.
“Consequently, more than $5bn, representing about 10 per cent of the total annual revenue from the export of oil and gas from Nigeria, is lost to non-metering of oil wells and inaccurate ship-to-shore differences while loading and offloading vessels.”
Aganga, who is the country’s immediate past finance minister said metering is an important part of oil field which is responsible for the three-phase metering of the liquid, oil and gas of each well, and provides oil reservoir engineering information for geological authority. The external segregator of oil field metering station separates natural gas, oil and water.
The Minister noted: ‘There is an unfair trade resulting from under-dispensation of petroleum products at petrol stations and charges to consumers/subscribers of electricity, water, telecommunication etc.”
Aganga stated: “I am however delighted to inform you that in the first 100 days, we have sought and received approval from Mr President to commence legal metrology in those areas. This will lead to a significant increase in revenue/savings to the government; promote confidence and trust in local and international trade transactions and protect the consumers from unwholesome trade practices”.
