* Says Nigeria unable to meet OPEC quota of 1.4 million barrels per day
The Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr Adewale Tinubu, has raised the alarm over a dangerous trend in the oil sector, saying that Nigeria is losing about 20 per cent of its crude oil production to oil thieves and pipeline vandals daily.
Wale Tinubu spoke on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) conference and exhibition in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is titled : “Expanding the Nigerian Content Frontier through Intra-African Trade”.
According to Wale Tinubu, Nigeria’s oil production has declined at an alarming rate due to the activities of the oil thieves and pipeline vandals.
He said: “There has been a 43 per cent reduction in our production from March 2020 to May 2022.
“We lose almost 20 per cent of our daily crude production to oil thieves and pipeline vandals and 20,000 barrels a day of oil is lost to oil theft.
“Basically some three million barrels on average yearly is lost to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.”
He added that the development had led to reduction in the country’s Gross Domestic Product and degradation of the environment.
Wale Tinubu said, “The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) gave us a quota of 1.4 million barrels per day and we were struggling to do 1.21 million barrels per day.
“We will get to a quota of 1.8 million very soon because the OPEC agreement expires in September. They are easing production by 400,000 barrels per day.
“We are not meeting the quota and we will not be able to meet it by September.
He, therefore, called for a collaborative effort between the government and all industry stakeholders to tackle the challenge.
Wale Tinubu also made a case for deployment of sabotage detection technology, on-ground and aerial surveillance as well as community policing to reduce the dangerous trend and bring the situation under control.
