Nigeria is losing about 20 per cent of its crude oil production to oil thieves and pipeline vandals daily.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Oando Plc, Mr. Adewale Tinubu, made the disclosure while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) conference and exhibition on Tuesday in Abuja.

Tinubu said Nigeria’s oil production had declined recently at an alarming rate due to the activities of the oil thieves and pipeline vandals.

He said: “There has been a 43 per cent reduction in our production from March 2020 to May 2022.

“We lose almost 20 per cent of our daily crude production to oil thieves and pipeline vandals and 20,000 barrels a day of oil is lost to oil theft.

“Basically, some three million barrels on average yearly is lost to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.”

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He said the development had led to reduction in the country’s Gross Domestic Product and degradation of the environment.

“The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) gave us a quota of 1.4 million barrels per day and we were struggling to do 1.21 million barrels per day.

“We will get to a quota of 1.8 million very soon because OPEC agreement expires in September. They are easing production by 400,000 barrels per day.

“We are not meeting the quota and we will not be able to meet it by that September,” Tinubu said.

He, therefore, called for a collaborative effort between the government and all industry stakeholders to tackle the challenge.

Tinubu said there was a need to deploy sabotage detection technology, on-ground and aerial surveillance as well as community policing which would help to bring the situation under control.

The Star