40% of crude losses due to measurement faults, not theft —Nigerian govt

Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has blamed measurement inaccuracies as being responsible for around 40% of crude losses in the Nigerian petroleum industry, rather than theft as is commonly reported.

Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive of NUPRC disclosed this during his address at the Petroleum Club Quarterly Dinner in Lagos over the weekend.

He therefore revealed that the Commission had conducted a forensic audit between January 2020 and November 2022 to determine the accurate volume of crude oil stolen during that period.

Komolafe also promised that the commission plans to address the issue of metering errors by licensing Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) as agents to deploy and maintain metering facilities across the country’s oil and gas facilities, ensuring transparency in hydrocarbon accounting.

“The reform measure adopted by the Commission offers a paradigm shift from the trajectory in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon measurement since oil was discovered in Nigeria in Oloibiri in 1956; and is aimed at ensuring that no one becomes a judge in his own case,” he said.

Read also:Nigerian govt lays down new rules to curb oil theft, improve domestic supply

He said the NURPC’s records indicate that the menace of oil theft has negatively impacted the oil and gas sector for about two decades with attendant huge financial losses to the country.

The chief executive added that the Commission, in collaboration with the various arms of the Security forces, NNPC Limited and host communities, have been able to suppress the ugly trend of hydrocarbon value decimation.

“Now, our nation has continued to record good dividends of these collaborative efforts as production figures are progressively increasing. The January 2023 volume is approximately 1.5 million barrels per day of oil and condensates, It is expected that this number will continue to increase as further measures are introduced and sustained to remove all illegal connections that aid crude oil theft”

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