The Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the country’s oil auditors, has revealed that three of Nigeria’s foreign oil partners – Shell, Eni and Chevron – recorded a loss of about 160 million barrels of crude oil with an export value of $13.7 billion over 2009 -2012.
According to Platts (a provider of energy and metals information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical energy markets), “Data from the NEITI Audit reports show that Nigeria lost about 160 million barrels of crude oil valued at $13.7 billion to crude oil theft from 2009-2012.”
Nigeria also lost about $1.1 billion through the crude swap for oil products programme by state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the same period, the statement quoted NEITI executive secretary, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, as saying.
“The record was from three international oil companies; Shell Production and Development Company, Nigerian Agip Oil Company and Chevron Nigeria Limited,” Ahmed said.
Oil theft remains a major headache for the government and foreign companies operating in the country.
Shell, Eni and Chevron have sold more than a dozen of their assets in the Niger Delta mostly prone to attacks by restive communities.
Nigeria loses around 250,000b/d of its oil production to theft, amounting to lost revenue of between $10 billion and $20 billion a year, and depriving the country of much-needed income that could have been deployed to develop social infrastructure, according to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The NEITI head reiterated that NNPC had yet to remit the $11.6 billion, dividend to the Federation Account from the exports by the Bonny LNG plant.
