By Christiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives has resolved to Constitute an Ad hoc Committee to investigate crude oil theft in Nigeria with a view to curbing economic loss to the country and ensuring that everyone complicit in the theft is brought to book.
The House resolution followed the adoption of a motion on the “Need to Investigate Crude Oil Theft and Loss of Revenue Accrued from the Oil and Gas Sector in Nigeria” brought by Hon. Philip Agbese on Wednesday.
Agbese said “in recent times, the media has been replete with news on the loss of trillions of Naira as a result of crude oil theft and loss of revenue from Oil and Gas exploration in the country.
“According to reports, about 40 percent of crude oil loss is due to inaccuracies in measurement, and theft as metering errors continue to occur as a result of poor maintenance of metering facilities, thus resulting to lack of transparency in hydrocarbon accounting.
He said reports revealed that in 2021 alone, Nigeria lost $4 billion to oil theft at the rate of 200,000 barrels per day, and the figures have risen since then and that security agencies of the Federal Government are allegedly complicit and largely responsible for facilitating most of the oil theft in the Niger Delta.
He further stressed that the Nigerian military has been accused several times of being behind 99 percent of oil theft and despite promises to conduct proper investigations, no substantial action has been taken by the Federal Government to address the matters raised.
“Disturbed about a 2022 report by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative ( NEITI) that about 619.7 million barrels of crude oil , valued at $46.1 6billion have been stolen in the last 12 years, while stakeholders have often described crude oil theft in the country as an organized crime perpetrated by the Nigerian elite”
“In spite of the huge funds appropriated to adequately equip Nigeria’s security and intelligence agencies, their performance in terms of curbing oil theft has been abysmal. Despite the enormous resources at the disposal of the NNPC Ltd and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), they have, in active connivance with national and multinational oil and gas companies, allegedly continued to sabotage every effort to ensure an effective running of metering facilities at the well heads, flow stations, loading platforms”
“If crude oil theft is allowed to go on unhindered, it will result in, not only devastating consequences to the country’s economy, but it will also gravely impact the environment, health and social life of the host communities, Determined to reform the oil and gas sector and ensure that crude oil theft is effectively curbed in order to arrest the attendant huge losses to the economy”.
The committee is expected to report back to the House within six weeks for further legislative action.
