Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser, claims that despite efforts to stop the problem, the government continues to lose 400,000 barrels of crude oil each day to local and foreign criminals.
This was confirmed by Ribadu, who on Saturday led a presidential delegation to examine the oil and gas installations at Owaza in Abia and Odogwa in Rivers’ Etche Local Government Area.
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He claimed that pipeline vandalism and oil theft had a detrimental influence on the economy of the country and were partially to blame for the country’s rising cost of living.
“It’s unfortunate that few individuals would steal our common resources, and in the process cause unbelievable loss to both the nation, communities and the people.
“Nigeria has the capacity to produce 2 million barrels of crude daily, but we are currently producing less than 1.6 million barrels due to theft and vandalism of pipelines.
“So, we are talking about 400,000 barrels of crude oil going to waste with few criminals and economic saboteurs not even getting much out of it,” he said.
Ribadu said the operators of artisanal refineries collect a small quantity of crude oil when they break the pipelines while larger volumes of oil are spilled on the environment.
“The value of 400,000 barrels of oil today is about 4 million dollars, and every day, we lose this amount because of this irresponsible behaviour.
“If you multiply 4 million dollars by 365 days (one year), you will see that it is a lot of money running into billions of dollars.
“Currently, the country is in desperate need of money as the Naira is continuously losing its value because we earn less money.
“If we earn more money, it will not only help strengthen our currency but reflect in everything, including the cost of living in the country,” he added.
