Nigeria Loses 11.75m Barrels Of Crude In 4 Years

Naija news.

23.07.2013, 16:01  Business and Economy

Nigeria lost about 11.75 million barrels of oil from 2010 to 2012, due to crude oil theft, the Group Executive Director, Refining and Petrochemicals, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Mr. Anthony Ogbuigwe, said.

Ogbuigwe disclosed this at the Petroleum Policy Roundtable, held in Lagos, last week.

According to him, 2.31 million barrels were lost in 2010 alone. Out of that number, 965,069 barrels were lost through the Escravos/Chevron pipeline, Warri, while Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC pipeline, Warri, lost 34,644 barrels.

The Warri to Kaduna pipeline lost 720,748 barrels, while Bonny to Port Harcourt axis lost 595,820 barrels.

He explained that the nation recorded the biggest loss of 6.39 million barrels in 2011, when the Escravos/Chevron pipeline lost 4, 213,468; Bonny/Port Harcourt 1,379,770; Warri/Kaduna, 644,193; and SPDC, Warri, 153,879 barrels respectively.

Similarly, in 2012, he said Nigeria lost about 3.04 million barrels. The Escravos/Chevron Warri line again recorded the highest losses with 1,236,515, followed by Bonny/Port Harcourt 967,522; Warri/Kaduna 752,598; and SPDC 88,989.

"As a nation, that should not continue. It leads to us being unable to run the refineries,'' he added.

Ogbuiwe noted that the 60 kilometre Escravos to Warri pipeline segment alone was responsible for over 40 per cent of the losses in 2012, while the Bonny to Port Harcourt pipeline accounted for 24 per cent, even though it handled less volume of crude oil.

He added that the non availability of crude led to the shutdown of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in the last week of May, 2013. "Kaduna refinery re-streamed operations on June 5, 2013, while Port Harcourt refinery is yet to receive crude supply, due to force majeure on the Trans- Niger Trunk line by SPDC occasioned by vandalism," he said.