The Managing Director, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Ltd, Mr Mike Sangster, has expressed worry over the volume of crude oil theft which he lamented was costing Nigeria about $10 million daily in accrued revenue. Sangster who revealed that crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region has become an organised crime while speaking during the industry leaders panel session on “The Future of Nigeria’s Energy Sector in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) Era,” at the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) conference and exhibition on Wednesday in Abuja, said it was far beyond issues with host communities.
While stating that 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, he however worry it would not put an immediate end to activities of crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals which he maintained had transcended into an organised crime and was disrupting the operations of oil and gas companies. According to him, Total Energies 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.
He said: “The volume of crude being stolen is far more than the capacity of host communities. We have not produced our onshore field OML 58 since 24 of February because of pipeline vandalism. “Security issues are a very concerning one and make investment decisions very difficult. The figures that are out there about the volume stolen are very concerning and they represent a huge revenue loss to the country. The issues have to be addressed and eradicated permanently “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.” Sangster, therefore, urged the Nigerian government and industry players to find a lasting solution to the issue of vandalism in order to make Nigeria an investment destination for oil and gas companies.
The Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said for Nigeria to attract needed investments into the oil and gas industry it must prioritize sanctity of contracts and check insecurity that has caused disruption in the transportation of crude oil to terminals. This was as he noted that although the PIA has provided clarity and stability on investment decisions, it needs regulations to make that happen saying the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA 2021, was a good start, but it would not by itself attract investments into the sector.
“It is an absolutely welcomed Act. Is it perfect? No it is not. There will need to be regulations that will support the clauses in the Act to make it a lot more implementable and we would work with the regulator to make sure these regulations are fit for purpose and they actually support PIA as planned.
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