Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have urged the Federal Government and international oil companies to invest more in the Niger Delta communities to curb crude oil theft.
They made the call on Tuesday at the 16th International HSE Biennial Conference organised by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Lagos.
Mr Emmaneul Aigbokhai, the Security Coordinator at Seplat Petroleum Development Company, said that more than eight billion dollars in revenue was lost yearly due to crude oil theft.
Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have urged the Federal Government and international oil companies to invest more in the Niger Delta communities to curb crude oil theft.
They made the call on Tuesday at the 16th International HSE Biennial Conference organised by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Lagos.
Mr Emmaneul Aigbokhai, the Security Coordinator at Seplat Petroleum Development Company, said that more than eight billion dollars in revenue was lost yearly due to crude oil theft.
Aigbokhai urged the National Assembly to give accelerated passage to the pending Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to fully accommodate host community interests.
He said that in moving forward, there should be more collaboration between the host communities and security agents.
He urged the Federal Government and the IOCs to invest on developmental projects in the communities to protect their investment in the region.
He said this would enable the oil communities and the IOCs to come together and curb the menace.
The security expert said the government should elicit the support of advanced countries to monitor and prevent the purchase of stolen Nigerian crude oil.
Aigobokhai also urged the government to diligently investigate and prosecute suspects of crude oil theft and their sponsors.
The General Manager of Asset Management and Development at Addax Petroleum Nig. Ltd, Mr Chike Nwosu, said that crude oil theft would continue if stakeholders and the Federal Government failed to invest more in the region.
Nwosu said that crude oil theft had become a means of livelihood in the area due to lack of investment.
“If we are not able to control crude oil theft in the country, the future is bleak,” he said.
He said that more than 150,000 barrels of crude oil were stolen daily and that more efforts should be put in to stop it.
Also speaking, the General Manager, Health Safety and Environment at Seplat, Mr Bright Ogah, said that between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of crude oil produced by oil companies were lost to thieves.
Ogah said it was in the best interest of the country and oil companies to invest more in the Niger Delta to check the trend.
The Production Services Manager at Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, Mr Obi Akosa, said that almost 95 per cent of government spending came from crude oil.
Akosa said it was unfortunate that a criminal arrested for oil theft would be released and would be found the following day committing the same crime.
The conference is tagged “Managing Security and Oil Theft: The Niger Delta case study’’.
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