Ike Amos
Abuja — Nigeria lost N156.83 billion to crude oil and petroleum products theft and vandalisation in 2019, dropping by 6.9 per cent from a loss of N168.5 billion recorded in 2018, according to data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In its Monthly Financial and Operations report for December 2019, the NNPC stated that pipeline repairs and management cost gulped N126.67 billion, compared to N140.58 billion recorded in 2018; crude oil losses stood at N3.465 billion in 2019 compared to N2.45 billion in 2018, while petroleum products losses stood at N26.69 billion, compared to N25.47 billion in 2018.
Giving a breakdown of crude oil losses, the NNPC stated that in the few months where losses were incurred, specifically in January, March, April and May 2019, losses of N28.04 million, N44.48 million, N3.33 billion and N57.16 million were recorded respectively.
In addition, petroleum products losses for January, March, April, May, June and July 2019, , according to the NNPC, stood at N2.25 billion, N992.7 million, N3.14 billion, N5.66 billion, N4.73 billion and N8.44 billion respectively, while for August, September, October, November and December 2019, the losses stood at N4.75 billion, N86.65 million, N659.5 million, N88.97 million and N2.17 billion respectively.
On the other hand, N14.6 billion, N10.12 billion, N11.96 billion N7.08 billion, N12.43 billion and N16.81 billion loss was recorded as pipeline repairs and management costs for January, February, March, April, May and June 2019; while for July, August, September, October, November and December 2019, N12.58 billion, N11.08 billion, N12.92 billion, N4.85 billion, N4.9 billion and N7.21 billion were incurred as losses respectively.
The NNPC explained that products theft and vandalism had continued to destroy value and put it at a disadvantaged competitive position.
According to the NNPC, a total of 1,748 vandalized points were recorded between December 2018 to December 2019, with Mosimi and Kaduna pipelines, being the most vandalized points.
To this end, the NNPC said it has laid out steps to mitigate the raging twin menace of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Speaking at the inaugural Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Policy Dialogue which held in Abuja, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, said oil theft had remained a challenge in the industry despite some strong interventions in the past.
Kyari, however, averred that the gradual reduction in incidences would be sustained through improved collaboration, implementation of Global Memoranda of Understanding (GMoUs) and deployment of appropriate technologies, among other measures.