The Nigeria Upstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s monthly reports show that Nigeria lost a huge amount of revenue as a result of massive oil theft between January and August this year.
Nigeria reportedly lost about 13.21 million barrels of crude oil with an estimated worth of N603.64bn between January and August this year, an analysis of the monthly reports of the country’s crude oil and condensate production showed.
Figures contained in the reports indicated that the country’s oil production only increased in two months, but crashed in others.
Total crude oil production (without condensates) in January, for instance, was 43.35 million barrels, but this dropped to 35.22 million barrels in February, indicating a loss of 8.13 million barrels.
It moved up in March, increasing by 3.14 million barrels to close at 38.36 million barrels in the third month of 2022.
This, however, was not sustained, as production dropped to 36.58 million barrels in April and the country lost 1.78 million barrels in that month.
The losses continued in May after oil production crashed to 31.76 million barrels, representing a loss of 4.82 million barrels when compared to what was produced the preceding month.
It increased in June to 34.75 million barrels, representing an oil production gain of 2.99 million barrels, but that was short-lived, as output fell again in July to 33.6 million barrels, meaning the country lost 1.15 million barrels in July.
The oil production losses persisted in August, crashing further to 30.14 million barrels, representing a loss of 3.46 million barrels.
It was observed that the total losses stood at 19.34 million barrels, while what was gained was 6.13 million barrels, leaving a cumulative loss of 13.21 million barrels during the review period.
The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, told our correspondent that though there might be some inconsistencies in oil theft data, the volume of crude stolen from the country was huge.
