Yemisi Izuora/Agency Report
Royal Dutch oil giant,Shell, Italian oil major Eni and American giant Chevron recorded a total loss of about 160 million barrels of crude oil with an export value of $13.7 billion over 2009-12, Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, the country’s oil industry auditors, said in a statement.
Nigeria also lost about $1.1 billion through the crude swap for oil products program by state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over the same period, the statement quoted NEITI executive secretary Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed as saying.
“Data from the NEITI Audit reports show that Nigeria lost about 160 million barrels of crude oil valued at $13.7 billion to crude oil theft from 2009-2012.
The record was from three international oil companies; Shell Production and Development Company, Nigerian Agip Oil Company and Chevron Nigeria Limited,” Ahmed said.
Oil theft remains a major headache for the government and foreign companies operating in the country.
Shell, Eni and Chevron have sold more than a dozen of their assets in the Niger Delta mostly prone to attacks by restive communities.
President Muhammadu Buhari said July 21 that Nigeria loses around 250,000 b/d of its oil production to theft, amounting to lost revenue of $10 billion-$20 billion a year and depriving the country of much-needed income that could have been deployed to develop social infrastructure.
The NEITI head reiterated that NNPC had yet to remit the $11.6 billion, dividend to the Federation Account from the exports by the Bonny LNG plant.