The House of Representatives committee investigating oil theft in Nigeria has revealed in a new report that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) appeared to be the primary perpetrator of the problem in the country.
The committee also indicated that there is extensive cooperation among regulatory authorities tasked with minimising the problem of oil thieves in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
In its preliminary report, the Adhoc Committee Investigating Crude Oil Theft and Revenue Loss from Oil and Gas Companies concluded alleging that some senior serving and retired officers of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (Formerly DPR), who are suspected of being complicit, may have a stake in the Marginal Fields and the abandoned oil wells that dot the entire Niger Delta.
According to the report, obtained by News.ng on Monday, the Committee’s investigation revealed apparent significant corruption and coordination of regulatory authorities at the export loading terminals.
The committee further claimed that in order to make up for production shortfalls, the bulk of marginal field operators along the oil shore axis are pushing oil theft.
The committee, led by Kabiru Rurum (Kano NNPP), also said in its report that most of the abandoned and non-decommissioned oil wells and pipelines have escalated incidences of oil theft.
The committee additionally accused NNPCL with allegedly engaging regulatory organisations whose official duties at the terminals would have prevented vast underreporting of the real amount of crude oil shipped from Nigeria.
It said that its investigation had revealed that several of the seized ocean vessels that were involved in significant shady transactions had NNPC Limited’s implicit consent.
The report findings
“The Adhoc Committee of the House of Representatives Investigating Crude Oil Theft and Loss of Revenue from Oil and Gas Companies Chaired by Rt. Hon Kabiru Alhassan Usman Rurum have continued to unearth stunning revelations of massive oil theft suggesting grave collusion of regulatory agencies and their collaborators in the oil and gas sector
It is alleged that most of the Marginal Field Operators are aiding oil theft in order to compliment shortfalls in their production.
“The Committee is seriously beaming its searchlight on these operators.
“From the submission of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) some of the Marginal Field Operators in the Country Includes, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited, Prime Exploration & Production (Operator), Suffolk Petroleum Limited, Oriental Energy Resources Limited, Universal Energy Limited, Prim, e Exploration & Production (Operator), Pillar Oil Limited, Platform Petroleum Limited, Chorus Energy Limited, Millenium Oil and Gas Limited, Brittania U-Nigeria Limited, Network E&P Limited, Waltersmith Petroman Limited (Operator), Morris Petroleum Limited, Midwestern Oil and Gas Limited, Suntrust Oil Company Limited, Frontier Oil Limited, Energia Limited (Operator), Oando Production and Development Limited, Excel Exploration & Production Limited, Green Energy International Limited.
“The Committee have held extensive interrogation and interaction with security agencies and will be engaging intensely the operators of the Marginal Fields, 14 Production Sharing Contract operators and 57 Joint Venture operators in the days ahead.
