Tag: crude oil theft

NEITI uncovers ₦1.5tr ($3.3bn) crude oil loss in one year

Aminu Imam
NEITI uncovers crude loss

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, (NEITI), has revealed that oil companies and some government agencies owe the federation about $3.3bn (roughly ₦1.5 trillion) in outstanding oil and gas remittances. NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this at the 2025 NAEC Energy Conference held in Lagos on Thursday. According to Orji, the debts were uncovered in NEITI’s ‘2021–2022 Oil and Gas Industry Reports’, which showed that while Nigeria earned $23.04bn in 2021 and $23.05bn in 2022 from the sector, several entities failed to remit revenues due to the…

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$25.7bn lost: ‘Nigeria’s crude theft crisis tied to elites, militants’ – Report

Aminu Imam
Crude theft crisis

Nigeria has lost an estimated $25.7 billion (roughly ₦39.3 trillion) worth of crude oil to theft in 23 years, deepening poverty, slashing government revenue, and pushing public debt to ₦149.4 trillion. Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, (NUPRC), shows about 353 million barrels were stolen between 2002 and 2025 – nearly 72% of the country’s 2025 budget at an average price of $73 per barrel. Despite spending ₦267.98 billion on pipeline security in just 16 months, theft remains rampant due to an organised network of powerful elites, militants,…

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N’Delta: Army uncovers 27 illegal refineries, nabs 43 oil thieves 

Aminu Imam
Army uncovers

The Nigerian Army, 6 Division said its troops have uncovered 27 fresh illegal refining sites and arrested 43 suspected oil thieves in the Niger Delta region. Also, it said operatives recovered 161,000 litres of stolen products during a nearly two-week operation in Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Delta States, respectively. The Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division Army Public, Lt. Col. Jonah Ɗanjuma, disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State yesterday. The statement read in part: “Troops of 6 Division, Nigerian Army have arrested 43 suspected oil…

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Oil Theft: Ijaw group alleges Navy conniving with ship owners to steal crude

Aminu Imam
Ijaw Group alleges

The Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, (IPDI), has lambasted the Nigerian Navy, saying it is a disappointment, alleging it made no achievements while it held the pipeline surveillance responsibility. The groups anger follows a recent allegation by Oweizide Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, that the Navy is sabotaging its efforts in the fight against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region. According to reports, IPDI National Coordinator, Austin Ozobo, in a telephone chat, claimed that rather than make positive achievements, the country bled economically under Navy surveillance, stressing that…

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‘Nigerias 8m barrels of crude oil stolen in 2023’ FG

Aminu Imam

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said about 7.68 million barrels of crude oil were either stolen or lost in 2023. Its Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji made this statement yesterday, while delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the 3-day Civil Society Roundtable on the ‘EITI Framework’ in Abuja, according ti an issued press statement on Sunday. The NEITI boss, who spoke on the topic: NEITIs Mission and the Pivotal Role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Promoting Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance within Nigerias…

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N’Delta communities demand investigation into illegal crude oil export

Aminu Imam
N'Delta communities

The Niger-Delta Concerned Host Communities, (NDCHC), has petitioned both the United Nations Secretary-General and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, calling for an investigation into the illegal export of crude oil from Nigeria. In a press statement issued yesterday, the group has urged INTERPOL and the new Director-General of the Department of Security Services (DSS) to probe the involvement of security forces and militia groups in the sophisticated theft of the countrys oil. According to the NDCHC, oil theft has led to a revenue loss of N2.3 trillion for Nigeria in 2023…

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“No excuse for failure to halt crude oil theft” – Okonjo-Iweala

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Iweala on oil theft

Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said there are no more excuses for failure to stop the incident of massive oil theft in the country as there are enough technology to do so. Okonjo-Iweala, also a former Nigerias Finance Minister, who stated this in Lagos at the weekend, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday, said those responsible for stopping the intolerable action of crude oil theft no longer have excuses. The former Nigerian finance minister…

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Crude oil theft: ‘$10bn lost in 7 months’ – House Speaker

Aminu Imam
Abbas on oil theft

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has said that the country has so far this year lost about $10 billion in revenue to crude oil theft, vandalism and other forms of sabotage in the oil and gas sector. Speaking at the commencement of an investigative hearing on crude oil theft and revenue losses, Abbas said it was practically impossible for the Government to meet its daily obligations to the people with such huge revenue loss. This is even more compelling in view of the commitment of President…

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Crude Oil Theft: FEC approves $21m to meter oil flow stations

Aminu Imam
FEC on crude oil theft

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), has approved the sum of $21 million for the metering of 187 oil flow stations across the Niger Delta region to help promote effective monitoring of the countrys crude oil production and distribution. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, explained that the metering project is in line with the Government agenda to curb the issues of oil theft bedeviling the countrys oil and gas sector. He said, One of the key…

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‘Lagos, Abuja, other big global players behind crude oil theft in Niger-Delta’ – Dickson

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Dickson on N' Delta

Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa West), on Friday, described those behind oil theft in the Niger-Delta as big players who reside outside the region. The senator made the allegation at Oporoza, headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West local government area of Delta, while visiting the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Oboro-Gbaraun II, Aketepe, Agadagba. Dickson said although Ijaw youths were tagged as being behind oil theft, they lacked the capacity and technical know-how to understand how pipelines operate. Those big players behind the crude oil theft are not from the region, but…

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