Nigerian Stakeholders' Summit Discusses Oil Theft

President Goodluck Jonathan last weekend convened a meeting of State Governors to discuss the threat.

Nigeria's President, Goodluck Jonathan, over the weekend tasked Governors in oil-producing states, Service Chiefs and multinational companies to work out an aggressive approach to tackle crude oil theft, the Guardian newspaper reported.

The President gave the charge at a close-door meeting in the capital, Abuja, attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo, Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta States, ministers, Service Chiefs and major players in the oil sector. The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, said the focus of the meeting was to find ways of ending oil theft.

She said it was agreed that a much more aggressive approach was needed to stop the crime. The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted her as saying a number of points will be addressed in greater detail by various committees within 10 days. According to Governor Uduaghan, the impact of the thievery has become so dire because of the monolithic, oil-dependent nature of Nigeria's economy.

As black Africa's largest oil producer and member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Nigeria currently exports just over two million barrels a day. The government has long been concerned about rising oil theft from vandalised pipelines and illegal bunkering. The Joint Military Task Force, JTF was recently established to protect oil installations in the Niger Delta.

In spite of the efforts, the wide-scale theft of oil continues. Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, according to the OilPrice website, estimated the daily theft of crude oil in 2011 at 180,000 barrels. This gives an annual worth of Seven billion U.S. Dollars (about FCFA 3,499 billion). In October 2006, Nuhu Ribadu, the then head of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, stated that more than 380 billion U.S. dollars (about FCFA 189,957 billion) had either been stolen or wasted by various governments since independence in 1960, OilPrice said.