There is No 80% of Oil Theft in Nigeria – Gbenga Komolafe

According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria lost more than 115,000 barrels per day (bpd) to oil theft and vandalism between January 2021 and February 2022, which amounts to $3.27 billion worth of crude oil.

By implication, the country lost about 7.6 per cent of the current 1.5 million barrels of crude produced per day on average. Therefore, if 80 per cent of Nigeria’s crude oil is stolen as claimed by some operators that means Nigeria produces about 300,000 bpd, whereas regulators put the daily output at 1.5 million. The NUPRC recently expressed worry over the “crude loss figures recently being quoted in the media by some operators, given actions taken so far on the issue.” The NUPRC had said it established a panel to audit the activities of operators in the upstream sector to ascertain the actual volume of oil lost to theft.

The claim that the government has backed the assertion that 80 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production is lost to oil theft is false. Based on the regulator’s record, only 7.6 percent of crude oil is lost to theft.

To discuss these discoveries and attempt to set the facts of crude oil theft straight is our guest, Gbenga Komolafe, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission.

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