The House of Representatives Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Losses has appealed to the Nigerian Navy to assist it with relevant information to unravel those stealing Nigeria’s crude oil.
Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the Chairman of the Committee, made the request in a statement reelased in Abuja on Sunday.
He released the statement after the committee’s engagement with the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogala.
At the meeting, he assured Ogala that information obtained confidentially by the committee would be handled with the utmost care.
Crude Oil Theft
According to him, “crude oil theft is a major concern for the economy of our country, Nigeria, and on that note, we feel we have to extend our hands of fellowship to the relevant security stakeholders.
“The parliament budgeted about ₦28.77 trillion for the year 2024 based on the crude oil benchmark of $77.96 per barrel and the production of 1.78 million barrels per day.
“In January 2024, Nigerian oil production rose to about 1.42 million barrels per day; this represents an increase of about 6.85% compared to the production figure of 1.39 million barrels per day in December 2023.
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He stressed that there seemed to be a gradual improvement in oil production but added that the country was still below the OPEC quota of 1.58 million barrels per day in the 2024 budget benchmark.
Doguwa said that the major reason Nigeria was not meeting its production targets was largely attributed to crude oil theft.
“This oil theft is being carried out in collusion, which not only threatens the economy of the country but has even precipitated a crisis concerning national security.”
Chief of Naval Staff Statement
The statement quoted the Chief of Naval Staff confirming that a recent report by NNPC Ltd. had indicated a rise of crude oil production to about 1.78 million bpd.
This, he said, was the highest in the last three years. Furthermore, he emphasised that the figure was still below Nigeria’s OPEC quota.
Also, he assured the lawmaker that the Navy would work in collaboration with others to ensure the quota was met.
However, he lamented the shortage of personnel in the face of the vastness of the country’s waterways, which he said were over 1/10th of Nigeria’s land.
According to him, the Navy has less than 30,000 personnel to man the vast sea space, with the operational guidelines of policing, enforcing, and assisting in coordinating enforcement. (NAN).
Furthermore, he agreed that oil theft remained a major challenge to the country’s economy,
