Sylva: Theft, Pipeline Vandalism, Infrastructure Decay, Not Measurement Errors Responsible for Crude Losses

•We have 1.8bn litres, 42-day petrol sufficiency, says NNPC

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, yesterday attributed the loss of revenue from crude production to theft, pipeline vandalism and decayed infrastructure.

The minister, in a statement by his Senior Adviser Media & Communications, Horatius Egua,  said despite the challenges, the federal government was determined to end the trend through improved investments and security along the major oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

Contrary to reports that about 40 per cent of the volumes of crude losses were due to measurement inaccuracies, he noted that the major sources of crude oil losses have primarily been theft,  pipeline vandalism and production deferment as a result of pipeline non-availability.

“It is a known fact that the major losses of crude oil in the country have been through theft and destruction of oil pipelines. Again we also know that some of the oil infrastructure are old and decayed and cannot perform at maximum capacity.

“And there is also the issue of lack of investments in fossil fuel in the country and the drive towards renewable energy has really hampered new investments in this sector,” he said.

The minister said the government had put measures in place to restore sanity in the sector, adding that contrary to the report, the problem associated with crude oil losses are systemic issues that the government was already handling with a view to finding permanently solutions to them.

Sylva therefore urged  the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to harmoniously work together to ensure that the constraints and impeding challenges in the optimal crude oil production volume were speedily addressed to boost national revenue.

According to him, the federal government cannot continue to lose revenue through ‘perceived’ lapses in crude oil production, especially at this very critical period of scarce revenue for the nation.

He emphasised that this was not the time to dwell on the mistakes of the past or engage in needless blame games but a time to  work to close all existing leakages to enable government get maximum benefits from its crude oil and gas assets.

While expressing satisfaction at the improved security along the major oil pipelines in the region, Sylva called for sustained efforts by all concerned to maintain maximum crude oil production.

“We are very confident that Nigeria will achieve 2 million barrels per day crude oil production target very soon. The government is doing everything possible to get to where we should be and everyone is working hard to achieve this,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that it has 1.8 billion litres of petrol in stock, enough to satisfy the demand of Nigerians.

In its concerted efforts to sustain the supply of petroleum products nationwide, the NNPC Limited said it had emplaced a robust plan for the supply of the product from mid-February to March 2023.

“Latest updates released on Monday show that NNPC Limited has a total of 1.805 billion litres of PMS stock, representing 805.35 million litres in all  the land depots nationwide and 1,000.20 million litres on marine vessels, which is equivalent to 30.09 days sufficiency.

An additional PMS supply of 884 million litres is also expected into the country by February 28, 2023, a statement signed by Garba Muhammad, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the national oil firm said.

For March 2023, it said that a total of 2.3 billion litres of PMS are expected into the country, while about 2.5 billion litres, which is equivalent to 42 days sufficiency, will be the closing stock for the month under review.

While assuring motorists that it has adequate and sufficient volumes on both land (all the depots) and marine vessels, the NNPC Limited, said that as the provider of energy security for the country, it will continue to sustain availability of petroleum products across the country.