Nigeria loses $10m daily to crude oil theft — TotalEnergies MD

By Uthman Salami

The Managing Director, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Ltd., Mike Sangster said crude oil theft has become an organised crime, making the country lose about $10 million daily in accrued revenue.

Sangster made the revelation at the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) conference and exhibition yesterday in Abuja.

While speaking during a panel session on “The Future of Nigeria’s Energy Sector in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) Era,” he said the PIA had made provision for the Host Community Trust Fund which was a step in the right direction to empower the local communities and ensure a clear and consistent framework across the industry.

In spite of the PIA, he believes it would not put an abrupt end to oil thieves and vandalism of oil facilities.

He affirmed that the dastard acts have now transcended into organised crime and disrupting the operations of oil and gas companies.

He said that TotalEnergies had declared a force majeure on its OML 58 and had stopped production since Feb. 24 due to the vandalism of its oil and gas infrastructure.

“You can see some of the figures in the press! I mean, maybe it’s up to 100,000 barrels per day, which is being stolen.

“With crude oil selling even at $100 per barrel, that means it’s $10 million per day, which has been lost and mainly to the country because you know, NNPC have 60 per cent of most of the joint ventures and we pay tax at 85 per cent.

“That’s a huge loss for the country. So, I think it really needs to be a priority to look beyond the host communities and how we can address the crude safety and eradicate it once and for all,” he said.

Sangster, therefore, urged the government and industry stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the issue of vandalism in order to make Nigeria an investment destination for oil and gas companies.