Oil theft cost Nigeria’s economy N272.2 billion in 2019, says NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that oil theft led to the loss of $750m (an equivalent of N272.2b) last year.

Regarded as an illegal way of taking crude or refined oil products from the pipelines of oil companies, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, said the menace was a threat to its operations.

Addressing participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 13 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) at NNPC Towers, he said the activities of oil thieves and pirates were on the rise.

Kyari, who spoke on, “Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea: Issues, Challenges for International Trade, National Security and Sustainable Development of Member States,” said any threat to the corporation’s operations was a threat to the survival of Nigeria as nation because of NNPC’s strategic role in the economy.

He added that vandalism of oil and gas infrastructure and kidnapping of personnel remained critical challenges to the sector.

“Even by 2050, fossil fuel would account for 80 per cent of the energy mix and there would still be consumption of at least 100 million barrels of oil per day. We are determined to remain relevant in the long term,” he said.

Kyari added that vandalism of oil and gas infrastructure and kidnapping of personnel remained critical challenges for the sector.

To him, there was a deep connection between the various shades of insecurity challenges as they are all linked to what was happening in the Gulf of Guinea and the entire maritime environment.

Kyari insisted that unless there is concerted effort and synergy to secure oil and gas operations, the economy may continue to suffer.

GMD said that fossil fuels would still be relevant and that the demand for crude oil would not reduce in the nearest future.

“Even by 2050, fossil fuel would account for 80 per cent of the energy mix, and there would still be consumption of at least, 100 million barrels of oil per day. We are determined to remain relevant in the long term,” he said.

In his presentation, NNPC Chief Operating Officer (COO), Downstream, Yemi Adetunji, said in 2016, the Gulf of Guinea accounted for more than half of the global kidnappings for ransom, with 34 seafarers kidnapped out of 62 cases worldwide.

He said the corporation was working closely with security agencies to tackle the security challenges, and cited the Operation Kurombe recently conducted by the Nigerian Navy at the Atlas Cove as an example of such collaborative efforts.