According to the chairman of the government oil corporation NNPC LTD, authorities in Nigeria uncovered an illegal connection line from one of its major oil export terminals into the sea that had been functioning covertly for nine years.
NNPC Chief Executive Mele Kyari testified to a parliamentary committee late on Tuesday that the 4-kilometer connection from the Forcados export terminal, which typically exports about 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, into the sea was discovered during a crackdown on theft in the previous six weeks.
To combat oil theft, the NNPC gave contracts in August to businesses that included those run by former militants.
According to Kyari, Nigeria, traditionally Africa’s largest oil exporter, is losing out on potential income from 600,000 bpd of oil because some of it is stolen and because oil companies idle some fields rather than supply pipelines that thieves may tap into.
As a result, for the first time since at least 1990, crude oil shipments dipped below 1 million bpd in August, depriving Nigeria of critical funding.
- Tags: #melekyari, #oilexport, #theft
