With Estimated Loss of 400,000bpd, Kyari Ramps Up War against Oil Theft

•NUPRC puts Nigeria’s July oil, condensate output at 1.53m bpd, third highest in 2024  

•NNPC says it cut investment in Dangote refinery to focus on CNG

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Amid huge losses to the nation, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr Mele Kyari, yesterday ramped up his war against oil theft by appealing to the Nigerian military to sustain the onslaught against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

 Kyari called on the military to ramp up the war against the menace, stressing that the current fight against the challenge was yielding improved growth in the nation’s crude oil production.

A statement from the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the national oil company, Olufemi Soneye, said that Kyari made the appeal when he received the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, who led senior military officers on a visit to the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

Nigeria loses trillions of naira to oil theft and pipeline vandalism annually, resulting in its inability to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quarter for years.

Although the data on the actual volume and value of oil stolen in Nigeria daily vary, in October last year, the Nigerian Senate revealed that the country had lost N2.3 trillion to the menace of crude oil theft at that time in 2023.

In April this year,  the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, said that Nigeria loses a sum of N1.29 trillion annually to oil theft, pipeline vandalism and other forms of criminality annually.

Specifically, he stated that Nigeria loses about 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day to theft, urging the military to rise to the occasion.

Before then, in August 2023, the National Security Adviser (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had revealed that Nigeria was still losing about 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and international thieves despite efforts to end the menace.

“I personally call for enhanced and sustained security engagement. This is because we have reached a new peak in production that we haven’t seen in the last three years.

“This is clearly related to the sustained efforts by the armed forces and other security agencies to protect our critical assets, particularly the pipeline infrastructure in specified areas where we are working closely with these agencies. We are already seeing the results transforming into increased production,” Kyari stated yesterday.

Latest data for July 2024 from OPEC indicated that Nigeria added 30,000 barrels per day of oil production to climb to 1.307 million bpd, according to its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).

However, OPEC production data usually excludes condensates, which constitute a significant portion of Nigeria’s monthly oil output.

Putting into consideration the July data published yesterday by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which computes condensates as part of production, Nigeria’s hydrocarbons output was 1.533 million bpd last month, being the third highest this year.

In January Nigeria’s combined production was 1.64 million bpd; it was 1.539 million bpd in February; 1.43 million bpd in March; 1.44 million bpd in April; 1.46 million bpd in May; 1.50 million bpd in June and 1.533 million bpd in July.

But Kyari, who commended the defence chief and his team for their commitment to securing the nation’s critical hydrocarbon assets, especially in the Niger Delta region in recent months, emphasised that achievements were not only crucial to Nigeria but also to the global energy community.

He expressed confidence that Musa and his team will deliver on the presidential mandate to mitigate security-related challenges affecting the nation’s crude oil production.

“Components of this effort that depend on security are being effectively managed by you. Your coordinated and focused response is paving the way for improved security engagement, particularly in the Niger Delta,” Kyari said.

Earlier in his remarks, Musa said the visit was intended to introduce the monitoring team to the NNPC, which will be responsible for interfacing with the company and other stakeholders in the oil-producing regions to secure the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.

While pledging commitment towards improving security and the performance of his troops, the CDS said the military will sustain the onslaught and analyse the troops’ capabilities to enhance their performance and bolster productivity.

He stressed the need to ramp up production for a prosperous economy and reassured collaboration with intelligence agencies, private security, state governments and host communities for enhanced performance.

“Working in silos won’t give us the best results. I want to assure you that we will collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to achieve our set targets as mandated by Mr. President,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the NNPC has said that its investment in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery was cut to 7.2 per cent because of its decision to focus partly on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

Soneye, NNPC’s spokesman stated this during a call-in programme to Brekete Family programme, a popular pidgin radio programme in Abuja.

In September 2021, NNPC acquired a 20 per cent interest in Dangote refinery for $2.76 billion. But, on July 14, Aliko Dangote, chairman of the 650,000bpd Dangote refinery revealed that the NNPC had reduced its stake in the refinery to 7.2 percent.

But the NNPC spokesman insisted that the company does not have any reason to sabotage the refinery since it has equity in the $19 billion firm.

“The reason for reducing our stake in Dangote refinery is because we wanted to invest in CNG. We observed that CNG is very cheap and all over the world, people are investing in clean and cheaper alternative energy,” Soneye said in pidgin.

According to him, when Nigerians use CNG, it will be cost-effective for them, explaining that the NNPC does not regulate the downstream and therefore has no issues with the facility located in Lagos.

He, however stated that the only issue was crude supply which the NNPC has not been fully able to comply with due to oil theft. He urged Nigerians to join in the fight to end the menace.

“That is why the NNPC is building different CNG stations everywhere. We understand that with N10,000, Nigerians can fill their cars and use it for two weeks. We realised that gas is cheaper in Nigeria, why don’t we invest in it since this is what people are doing all over the world?” Soneye asked.

He added: “We want all Nigerians to know that the NNPC does not have any issue with the Dangote Refinery. We are part of the owners of the Dangote Refinery and we don’t want it to collapse.

“We invested billions of naira into the Dangote refinery. As of today, we have a 7.2 per cent stake in the refinery. So, why would we want to sabotage such a company?