Report Reveals Nigeria Records Highest Oil Theft Rate In The World

The highest ever reported crude oil theft in the world has taken place in Nigeria with the country recording approximately 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude theft, a report showed. Mexico came second with approximately 5000 to 10000 bpd loss to oil theft.

The report was the outcome of a study on oil theft carried out by the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC).

Speaking in Lagos yesterday at a media and CSO workshop on reducing oil theft yesterday, the researcher Niyi Awodeyin said the report showed that Nigeria’s loses around 10 per cent of its annual budget to crude oil theft.

Awodeyin said it was complex to determine the scale of oil theft but that on average Nigeria loses N1tr per year to oil theft. He said the scale of oil theft showed that Nigeria was losing on a daily basis more than the volume of crude oil some countries produce daily. He said 75 per cent of stolen crude was taken out of Nigeria.

Awodeyin said the study showed that there has been a steady rise in the past decade of crude oil theft between 2011 and 2014 Estimates of lost revenue, according to the study, ranges from $7billion to 12billion annually. He said oil theft could continue unabated because the current policies on theft were not enough to deter oil thieves.