Nigeria lost 63.51 million barrels of crude oil – a rate of 174,000 barrels per day – to oil theft and other associated incident in 2013, depriving the country of N822.84 billion oil revenue during the period.
The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Mutiu Sumonu, who made this known in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos, said the loss included shut down of facilities in the period.
The was incurred in SPDC’s joint venture oil production with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Sumonu, who is also the Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria said that an average of 32,000 barrels of oil were lost daily in SPDC’s operations through third party activities during the period.
He said that the incidents of oil theft and other negative issues in the oil production process forced down the volume of the company’s daily oil output to 693,000 barrels during the period.
He also stated that during the period, the company recorded 157 oil spills, up from 137 incidents recorded in 2012, adding most of the cases resulted from acts of sabotage.
He regretted that the synergy between Shell and the Federal Government to evolve ways to effectively curb oil theft had not yielded much result.
Sumonu therefore advocated the inclusion of communities in the search for solution to oil theft, stressing that the government and oil companies alone would not win the war against the menace.
He stated that Shell was committed to paying its share of the 1billion dollars (about N164 billion) recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme for the development of the environment in Ogoni land.
He added that the company had carried out sensitisation drive on the dangers of oil spills in its areas of operations and stressed the need for the people of Ogoni to support the campaign.
‘’We don’t want to wipe out Ogoni history; we want to be part of the restoration of Ogoni environment,’’ he said.
Sunonu admitted that Shell was divesting in some of its onshore oil blocs, but said that it was for the benefit of indigenous operators.
He also explained that the development would bring growth in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
According to him, with the divestment, Shell is now concentrating on shallow and deep water blocs with a view to producing more oil from them and adding value to Nigeria’s economy.
He debunked media reports that the company had appropriated resources to support the ambition of some politicians in 2015 elections. (NAN)
Source: BusinessDay
