Oil Theft and a Dialogue with Socrates

Austin Tam-George

Nigerian: Dear Socrates, my country is troubled on many fronts. You’re a man of great, ancient wisdom. I’ve come to you for answers, Sir. Please help us.

Socrates: Well, I don’t always have potted answers to hand out. But through a simple method I’ve used for many years, people tend to find the solutions to their problems by themselves, rather than depend on others. Philosophers call my approach the ‘’Socratic method’’. But it’s actually just a series of  critical conversations.

Nigerian: Wow!  A conversation? This sounds interesting. So how do we start?

Socrates: We start with you stating the particular problem. I’ll ask you a series of questions, and then we go from there. Ready?

Nigerian: Yes. Here is the problem: there seems to be no end to the dismal news coming from the oil and gas sector in my country. Oil theft is perhaps the biggest problem now. Production volumes are down, and revenue to the nation is falling. It’s the same story for gas. What do we do?

Socrates:  That’s awful. Who exactly are these oil and gas thieves?

Nigerian: Well, we’ve seen quite a few ruffians in the Niger Delta region, bursting pipes. They steal oil, refine it in the bush, and sell in miserable jerry cans for pennies. It’s a mess. The country is..

Socrates: (interrupts) Wait a second. How much oil is lost? I mean, what’s the official estimate of oil lost daily due to the activities of these ruffians?

Nigerian: The last figure I have seen in the press is as high as five hundred thousand barrels of oil stolen per day by these guys.

Socrates: Well, that sounds way more than what a few ruffians can handle daily in any bush and sell in Jerry cans. Could there be more going on? Do you have a Petroleum Ministry?

Nigerian: Yes, we have a Petroleum Ministry.

Socrates: Good. Do you also have a regulatory agency that oversees the operations of the industry?

Nigerian: Yes.  In fact, we have regulatory agencies for the upstream,  midstream, and downstream aspects of the industry, Sir.

Socrates: Interesting.  Yet, somehow, 500,000 barrels of crude oil are stolen under the watch of these regulatory agencies of government?

Nigerian: Yes, that is part of the riddle, Sir, and we must try to get to the root of this problem.

Socrates: Great. Now, oil and gas exploration is a highly technical business. Do you agree?

Nigerian: Yes, I definitely agree.

Socrates: Good. This means that those who oversee the industry must themselves have dynamic technical insight into the operations of the industry and the tools to monitor the sector. Do you agree?

Nigerian: Yes, that’s a sensible standard to expect in any regulatory agency.

Socrates:  Good. So, do you have an effective technical mechanism for tracking every drop of oil officially lifted and piped out of the country daily?

Nigerian: Well, I’m not sure, to be honest. Only the Petroleum Minister can answer that.

Socrates: You’re not sure? How then do you know when oil-exporting companies declare far less than what they actually pipe out of your country?

Nigerian: Well, the oil and gas companies are among those screaming about oil and gas theft.

Socrates: No, that’s not the point.The point is that your country must have automated tools to independently verify every  oil or gas taken out of your reserves. This will greatly enhance transparency and accountability in the sector. Do you agree?

Nigerian:  Yes, I totally agree. And I can now see that without an effective automated oversight, everyone is basically a suspect.  But is automation the only solution,  Socrates?

Socrates: Well, even the best automation will have to be supported by human character. Do you agree?

Nigerian: I don’t quite understand, Socrates.  What do you mean?

Socrates: Ok. Let’s look at it this way: oil exploration is a very lucrative business. Do you agree?

Nigerian: Absolutely.  I agree.

Socrates: This means that those who oversee all aspects of this business, including the technical verification process, must be of incorruptible character. Do you agree?

Nigerian: Oh, Socrates, I agree!

Socrates: Even the best automation cannot take the place of human character. So, everyone – from the Petroleum Ministry, the security agencies, the regulatory bodies – must be of incorruptible character in order to stop oil theft.  Do you agree?

NIGERIAN: I totally agree, Socrates!

Socrates: Is that the case in your country?

Nigerian: Oh, Socrates! All we’ve heard are allegations and counter-allegations of corruption and collusion among those who should be protecting the nation’s resources.

Socrates:  i see. Has any major culprit been convicted in your courts to serve as a strong message to other oil thieves?

Nigerian: Oh, Socrates, I feel exhausted now. I can’t breathe!

Socrates: Has the petroleum minister been fired for watching over such massive oil theft?

Nigerian: Oh, Socrates!

In the past 8 years, during the peak of the crisis, the petroleum minister was also the President of the country.

Socrates: What? Now, that’s interesting.

(curtains)..

To be continued…

Dr Tam-George studied leadership and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School,Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  USA.