•FG impounds 83 tankers, engages more experts to curb crime
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Worried by the endless stealing of Nigeria’s crude oil products, which has resulted in revenue losses and economic downturn, the Federal Government appears determined to arrest the ugly situation once and for all.
To this end, a one-day conference on oil theft/losses was organised by the special investigative panel on oil theft/losses in Nigeria, in Abuja. The conference was titled “Protecting petroleum industry asset for improved economy.”
The dialogue was to, among other things, enable experts brainstorm on how the country can safely wriggle out of the situation. To show its seriousness, minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, national security adviser to the President, Babagana Monguno, the service chiefs, traditional rulers from the Niger Delta region and representatives of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) were present.
Before then, government had lamented that, about 30 years ago, the country was able to produce over two million barrels of oil per day, but it currently struggles to drill as little as 60 per cent of that amount.
It added that not even the setting up of a 10-man special investigative panel on oil theft/losses has ameliorated the situation after it discovered an illegal pipeline connection at kilometre 4, on the trans-Escravos pipeline, Yokri community, in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.
As if that was not enough, President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2021, assented to the Petroleum Industry Act to revitalise the oil and gas industry. This Act stipulates elaborate provision for the need of the host communities in the oil and gas-producing areas.
As complicated as the situation is, government said it has made inroads with the impounding of 83 tankers involved in crude oil theft, while the theft of over three million barrels of crude oil was prevented and 11 million litres of petrol and diesel were recovered.
In his presentation, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo charged host communities to protect pipelines and prevent vandalism and work with government to shore up revenue.
He said: “When disruption of production, oil theft and losses occur such communities and states inevitably stand to lose immensely given that the benefits of host communities is based on the algorithm principle.
“So, it is important, in order to gain the benefits of the legislation, of course the host communities themselves must ensure continued production and must assist the government as well as the agencies involved in steming oil and gas theft and losses.
“And I think this is important because when host communities, especially, involved in this actions are sensitized as to the importance of ensuring that the Act works to their benefit, then I think things may well improve.
“This is public knowledge of course that clandestine syndicates perpetrate these economic crimes using various tactics and the fall of oil tankers that illegally load crude without due authorisation of the appropriate regulatory authorities.
“At the same time, it has been argued that organised crime of such scale cannot be carried out without the compromise and complexity of critical institutions. These assertions continue to be contested by the relevant authorities.”
Equally, the NSA suggested inter-agency synergy, regional and international collaboration to halt the ugly scenario. He identified the deployment of sophisticated technology as a multiplier integration solution to addressing security concern.
Monguno said: “It is also necessary to state that addressing crude oil theft requires strong interagency collaboration with the relevant stakeholders such as the security agencies, the NNPC, international oil companies and very crucially the local communities.
“It may also require regional and international collaboration due to the transnational nature of the threat. This would provide a more comprehensive approach to tackle this problem by integrating all the necessary stakeholders.”
To cap it all, chairman of the Investigative Panel and Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Maj-Gen. Barry Ndiomu (retd), proposed stiffer sanctions for economic saboteurs.
“We are, therefore, looking forward to very rewarding and constructive engagement, which would include conversations around legal reforms that would provide stiffer penalties to culpable entities,” he said.
Ndiomu explained that the conference marked a climax of months of field visits to locations and facilities on and offshore, extensive engagement across government and non-government stakeholders as well as in-house deliberations aimed at unravelling what had become the country’s most troubling economic debacle.
The retired military officer added that the panel visited several sites across the country like the Walter Smith Modular Refinery, Imo State, FPSO’s Agbami and Bonga and the Yokiri Flow Station Area in Burutu Delta State, to get first-hand information of the oil exploration.
“There is no gainsaying the enormous impact the menace has had on the nation’s crude oil production with our oil output hitting a 13-year low of 800,000barrels/day. The panel visited several sites across the “Niger Delta such as the now infamous Yokiri Flow Station Area in Burutu Delta State where the illicit connection on the export line that fed off the TETL was discovered and saw other connecting points used for illegal refining.
“In Owerri, Imo State, a visit to the Walter Smith Modular Refinery revealed the supply challenges the company faced with massive drop in product volumes when pumped through the export line. Several offshore platforms including the FPSO’s Agbami and Bonga were also visited.
“We conferred with members of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), the different oil and gas regulatory bodies as well as other industry stakeholders who gave varying insights into the issues surrounding this phenomenon.
“Strategic consultations were held with the Governors to get their special insight into experiences in dealing with the many issues around oil theft.
“On the side of the law enforcement and security agencies, visits were made to the Chiefs of Army and Naval Staff, the DG-SSS, The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as well as the EFCC, among others.
“These engagements availed us information on the challenges their respective organizations faced in securing our nation’s oil assets and combating oil theft.
“These and several other government agencies availed the panel memoranda and documents which have also proved useful to the Panel.
“These efforts provided us new knowledge and elicited honest discussions amongst panel members that led to some obvious conclusions.
“We surmised that the reported theft and loss of crude oil stemmed from the twin issues of complicity and negligence.
“The emergent picture suggests the existence of a sophisticated network of complicity between elements from the host communities, security agencies, and industry players- both government and private institutions alike- as well as international collaborators.
“The conception of this conference is part of the panel’s strategy to obtain additional inputs, information, and data on the subject-matter,” he concluded.