Nyesom Wike to Battle Nigeria’s $7bn Oil Theft

Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has declared war on the rampant oil theft and illegal refining leading to billions in lost revenues for Nigeria and contributing disastrous environmental pollution.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and reports indicate that the West African country loses as many as 150000 barrels of crude per day to criminals. The little quantities stolen are taken to substandard refineries and processed to gasoline, diesel and kerosene which during the process, contributes to environmental pollution for locals in the  Niger Delta region.

Governor Wike, explaining these actions disclosed that “It is sabotage to the nation’s economy and very dangerous to the health of the people. We cannot sit down and see our people dying with all kinds of ailments,” at the state capital, Port Harcourt.

Oil theft is one of the things that has contributed to low revenue from Nigeria as criminals tap into pipelines crisscrossing Rivers and other southern states. The country estimates that the missing barrels are worth almost $6.8 billion a year. Some experts, however, believe that the scale of the theft is even more than what the government estimates.

Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff Lucky Irabor, had also disclosed that the theft of oil in Rivers contributes to abysmally low production in the country. A government-backed data in 2021 reveals that the country only produced about 1.5 million barrels a day of crude equivalent in December, down from around 1.7 million barrels at the start of 2021. This is coming from a country with a capacity of 2.5 million barrels a day.

However, there has been improvement since January 2022, even though performance remains below the quota set by OPEC+ for Nigeria.

It is pretty clear that oil theft not only erodes current output but also discourages investment in future production in Nigeria.

Wike’s commitment to fighting oil theft in Nigeria is coming as fitting when you consider that only recently, Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister, Timipre Sylva have called on the Turkish government to consider investing in Nigeria’s oil assets after some notable International Oil Companies (IOCs) have declared divestments in Nigeria’s oil assets.

Involved Politicians

Governor Nyesom Wike also stated that “It is clear that certain politicians are involved” in the illicit trade. “It’s also clear that some security agencies are involved,” he disclosed.

The governor blamed President Muhammadu Buhari-led’s administration to have failed in tackling oil theft and this failure is forcing the Rivers governor to act.