The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has disclosed that the country loses US$6bn annually to crude oil theft
PENGASSAN president Babatunde Ogun revealed this at a joint forum with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Lagos recently.
Ogun said, “This is a threat to our national security and our democracy. If this kind of huge amount of money gets into the wrong hands, it can destabilise our democracy and national security.”
The gas association president blamed the incessant loss of the billions on vandalism of crude oil and petroleum products’ pipeline.
Ogun added, “An estimated 60,000 bpd of crude oil is stolen at Nembe Creek. Italian oil company Agip had to suspended production in Bayelsa because a huge portion of its production was being stolen per day.”
Ogun advised the government to beef-up security and warned that the oil and gas sector would suspend production of crude oil and supply of petroleum products if nothing was done.
The PENGASSAN president urged governors and local government chairpersons to channel their security votes to step-up intelligence gathering and surveillance to nip crime in the bud.
