Shell Says FG Losing $620,000/Day to Vandals

• Shell Calls For Support to Tame Vandals

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said the Federal Government is losing at least 10,000 barrels of crude oil to pipeline vandals on a daily basis in the Niger Delta region.

Going by the current market price of $62 per barrel, the federal government is losing at least $620,000 per day to oil theft.

Shell, therefore, called for government support in taming vandals in the Niger Delta region of the country.

Mr Igo Weli, the General Manager and External Relations, SPDC, disclosed this on Monday during a media workshop on ‘Pipelines Right of Way Encroachment and Vandalism” held in Port Harcourt city.

Speaking on the issue he said, “These are critical national assets with 55 percent government interest and they produce the crude oil that accounts for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and the bulk of government revenue. Hurting these assets means hurting the nation’s revenue, the economy of the states, the health of the people and the environment.

“Crude oil theft on the pipeline network resulted in a loss of around 11,000 barrels of oil a day in 2018, which is more than the approximate 9,000 bbl/d in 2017,’’ Weli said, adding that since 2012, SPDC had removed more than 1,160 illegal theft points on its joint venture pipelines in the Niger Delta.”

In June, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) reported that oil pipeline vandalism rose by 77 percent in the month. This translates to 106 pipeline breaches and 60 more than what was recorded in May.

Chidube Nnene-Anochie, general manager, Safety and Environment, SPDC, explained that illegal refining amid third party interference with pipelines were the main sources of pollution in the Niger Delta region.

Nnene-Anochie said in 2018 alone, “third party interference caused close to 90 percent of the number of spills of more than 100 kilograms from SPDC JV pipelines.” NNPC owns 55 percent in the SPDC JV.