Nigeria bemoans oil loss through theft

The president of Nigeria has revealed that the country is losing billions in potential revenue due to the theft of oil.

Speaking at the Annual Banking and Finance Conference in Abuja, Goodluck Jonathan said the Federal Government has estimated that the country is currently losing between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels of crude oil a day due to theft.

The wider implications are that the nation's economy is slowing down: data released by the National Bureau of Statistics recently showed that the economy grew at 6.18 per cent last quarter, compared with the previous three-month period, largely due to pipeline shutdown and theft.

The thieves responsible for taking the oil are also compromising the safety of the country's pipeline, increasing the chances of leaks as a result of their actions.

The financial impact was highlighted by the president, who noted that the price of crude oil in the international market stood at $113 per barrel on Tuesday; meaning the country would be losing between $6.78 million (N1.08 billion) and $9.04 million (N1.45 billion) a day.

According to Mr Jonathan, the oil industry is a source of constant worry and distress at the moment, and will remain that way until action is taken.

"The oil sector has brought nothing to this country than shocks. Even some new shocks that we never thought could be shocks, things like oil bunkering and oil theft. These are shocks because once they happen, they shut down the entire system," he explained.

He claimed that the majority of the published figures do not even represent the theft, with estimates of 400,000 actually being closer to 80,000.

"What is stolen is between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels per day. But once they start stealing from your pipelines, do you allow them to continue? No, you shut them down and once you shut down, the entire production stops; so that is also a loss."

These pipeline shutdowns are what is causing the most harm to the economy, and this will remain the case until action is taken, he concluded.