Theft, pipeline vandalism majorly responsible for volume of crude oil losses — Sylva

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has attributed the loss of revenue from crude production to theft, pipeline vandalism and decayed infrastructure.

The Minister said despite the challenges, the Federal Government was determined to end the trend through improved investments and security along the major oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

Contrary to reports that about 40% of the volumes of crude losses are due to measurement inaccuracies, he noted that the major sources of crude oil losses have primarily been theft, pipeline vandalism and production deferment as a result of pipeline non-availability.

He disclosed this in a statement issued by his media aide, Horatius Egua in Abuja on Monday.

“It is a known fact that the major losses of crude oil in the country have been through theft and destruction of oil pipelines. Again we also know that some of the oil infrastructure is old and decayed and cannot perform at maximum capacity. And there is also the issue of lack of investments in fossil fuel in the country and the drive towards renewable energy has hampered new investments in this sector,” he said.

He stressed that the Government has put measures in place to restore sanity in the sector adding that the problem associated with crude oil losses were systemic issues already being handled to find permanent solutions.

To this end, Sylva urged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to harmoniously work together to ensure that the constraints and impeding challenges in the optimal crude oil production volume were speedily addressed to boost national revenue.

He maintained that the Federal Government cannot continue to lose revenue through perceived lapses in crude oil production, especially at a time y of scarce revenue for the nation.

While expressing satisfaction at the improved security along the major oil pipelines in the region, Sylva called for sustained efforts by all concerned to maintain maximum crude oil production.

“We are very confident that Nigeria will achieve a 2 million barrel per day crude oil production target very soon. The government is doing everything possible to get to where we should be and everyone is working hard to achieve this,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in its latest updates released on Monday, revealed that it has a total of 1.805 billion litres of PMS stock, representing 805.35 million litres in all the land depots nationwide and 1,000.20 million litres on marine vessels, which is equivalent to 30.09 days sufficiency

In a statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Garba Deen Muhammad, it said an additional PMS supply of 884 Million Litres is also expected into the country by 28th February 2023.

For March 2023, the Company said a total of 2.3 billion litres of PMS is expected in the country, while about 2.5 billion litres, which is equivalent to 42 days of sufficiency, will be the closing stock for the month under review.

While assuring motorists that it has adequate volumes on both lands (all the depots) and marine vessels, the NNPC Limited, said as the provider of energy security for the country, it will continue to sustain the availability of petroleum products across the country.

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