30 March 2013, Abuja – Port Harcourt — The Defence Headquarters on Thursday said crude oil theft had dropped from 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 23,000.
The Chief of Training and Operations, Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Ngubane announced this in Bile, Okirika Local Government Area of Rivers during a tour to some operational bases of the Joint Task Force (JTF).
Ngubane, who held a closed-door meeting with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), said the decline was due to the JTF renewed strategy and commitment to the fight against illegal oil bunkering.
“The level of oil theft has come down drastically; SPDC informed me that oil theft has reduced from 60,000 bpd to 23,000 bpd,” he said.
The SPDC had on March 4, claimed that the company was losing about 60,000 barrels of crude oil to criminals daily.
*Victor Edozie, Daily Trust