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an average o f 9 6 0 ,0 0 0 barrels per day (bpd) of

oil. So the question is: was that the cumulative
volume the company expected from all its
producing wells? If not, the difference would
have given an idea of the actual volume lost to
oil thieves.

rather than at distribution terminals was

criminally expunged so that oil-producing
companies can continue to tell us that half
the volume they produced was lost to oil
thieves along the road to the export
terminals.

All oil producing companies including Shell

must know the exact volume that comes out
from of their oil wells except if the well is shutin (closed). If they know what they produce
from all the wells within their oilfields, they
should with exactness know the volume
expected to arrive at every flow station before
going to the export terminals.

If the proposal was not clandestinely

removed, it would have undoubtedly
ensured transparency in crude oil volume
accounting and effortlessly expose the
reckless thievery of producing crude oil in
this country.

The oil wells were completed to flow at given

and definite rates whether steady or staggered.
The difference betw een what comes out from
battery of wells in any field and what arrives at
the flow station will give the exact volume of
produced crude oil lost between the wellhead
and the flow station. This is a simple enough
calculation.
If the stealing occured at flow lines rather than
wellheads, the same calculation goes for the
gap betw een the volume a t the flow station and
whatever quantity is received at the export
terminals.
So what is difficult in working this out? The
Nigerian people need to know the actual
volumes stolen on daily basis so that they can
in real terms appreciate the enormous loss this
nation incurs on a daily basis to a few
privileged individuals or gangs.
Operating oil companies particularly those that
have onshore/near-shore production facilities
have maintained that crude oil stolen from
their facilities were normally taken by
tampering with flow lines except in few cases
where wellheads were directly tapped. So let's
begin to tell ourselves the bitter truth.
Both the federal government's representative in
the oil business, the NNPC and the foreign oil
companies know what they are doing. This is
the truth.
The issue of crude oil theft or rather
inappropriate accounting of produced oil was
part of the m ischief played into what is now
called the 'final Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
This bill is currently at the National Assembly
awaiting passage into law and ultimately
Presidential assent.

Over five percent of the country's total

crude oil outputs are estimated to be stolen
from Nigeria's Niger Delta every day, plus
the additional volumes used as feedstock
for over 100 village-level illegal refining
businesses that are booming unhindered
across the oil-producing areas.
The case of condensate is even worse, as
m ost people do not even know that this
resource is produced in this country almost
as much as oil is and interestingly, as is the
practice, condensate is not part of the
calculation for Nigeria's OPEC daily
production quota allocations.
Nigerian security agencies in 2 0 1 0 alone
arrested 187 people and seized 20 tankers,
28 barges and 38 other boats used in
transporting stolen crude oil to the oil
tankers stationed offshore.
The question is Who are these people and
who are they working for? Every tanker,
boat or barge is well registered somewhere

in this country or even

outside. So whomever owns
these vehicles and the
village-sized oil receptor
marine vessels/tankers
receives Nigeria's stolen
crude oil farther offshore
from our coastline.
Does it mean that the
security agencies do not
interrogate those arrested,
if for nothing than to gather
intelligence to help unravel
the real culprits behind
these illicit businesses.
As we are even talking now,
crude oil is being lost from
onshore and near-shore
production facilities.
Nobody has ever bothered
to find out what is
happening at the several
floating production and
storage facilities scattered
in the nation's offshore
arena.
Neither does the
Department of Petroleum
Resources (DPR) nor NNPC
(NAPIMS) have any clue as
to what actually goes on in
the nation's offshore oil
production and storage
platforms. Is this not
pathetic?

contd. From page 6

m oney recovered from the suspects," he said.
Tsafe also paraded another seven-m em ber gang, including a w om an for
vandalising PHCN's cables at Issele-Uku in Aniocha Local Government Area of
the state.
He said that four of the arrested suspects w ere involved in the vandalism of the
cables in Issele-Uku and its environs w hile the fem ale m em ber and other tw o
received the stolen m aterials.
The com missioner said that tw o suspects w e re arrested for terrorising and
robbing students at one of the hostels at the state's university in Abraka, w hile
another man w a s arrested at Obiaruku for impersonating the army.

This problem has been previously highlighted

in a published piece: Ambushed PIB: Mischief
Vs Genuine Oil and Gas Reform," where it was
stated that the spirit of genuine reform in the
nation's oil and gas sector has been
compromised by those who have been
partnering to jointly defraud Nigeria.

He said that efforts w ere on to arrest the fleeing m em bers of the gang, adding
th a t the suspects w e re assisting the Criminal investigation Departm ent in their
investigation.

From the original PIB, the proposal to measure

crude oil production volumes at wellheads

The robbers had w aylaid the m arket w om en on their w a y to Ebu m arket and shot
the w om an dead, including the driver of the cab, w ho had attem pted to escape.

Newsgrain

Magazine

Tsafe said that all the suspects would soon be charged to court.
Similarly, a group of arm ed robbers reportedly killed a m arket w om an in Asaba,
yesterday, along Asaba/Ebu/lllah road.