Tag: Crude oil

Rivers: NAF airstrikes destroy boats ‘loaded with stolen crude’ 

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it destroyed three boats sighted tapping crude oil from a pipeline at a dispensing site in Rivers State. Director of NAF Public Relations, Edward Gabkwet, in a statement, said the operation was carried out via airstrikes on Saturday, August 5, 2023. According to him, the air component of ‘Operation Delta Safe’ executed the operation. He said, “The air strikes became necessary after three boats were sighted tapping crude oil from a pipeline”.  Consequently, the boats were engaged and destroyed by the aircraft,” he added.…

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Nigeria’s oil production drops to 3-month low, as illegal export shipping persists

Aminu Imam

Nigeria’s crude oil output slumped to a three-month low data from the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reveals. The production data from both bodies shows Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production stands at 1.018 million bpd. This falls short of the 1.249 million bpd it produced in June and the 1.184 million bpd it produced in May. Nigeria produced 33.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in July, which falls short of the 37.4 million barrels it produced in June and…

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NNPCL intercepts offshore vessel owned by Nigerian businessman, Henry Coker with stolen crude oil

Aminu Imam

Following the receipt of credible intelligence, a private security contractor engaged by NNPC Ltd., Messrs. Tantita Security Services, intercepted a suspicious vessel with a cargo of crude oil on board on July 7, 2023. The ship and its stolen merchandise, bound for Cameroon, were seized by a private security contractor off the Nigerian coast on Friday. The Vessel, MT TURA II (IMO number: 6620462), owned by a Nigerian registered company, Holab Maritime Services Ltd., with Registration No. RC813311, was heading to Cameroon with the cargo on board when it was…

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Alleged $2.4bn Crude Oil Illegal Sale: H/Reps may issue arrest warrant on AGF, Fin. Minister

Aminu Imam

The House of Representatives has threatened to issue warrant of arrest on the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, as well as the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, if they fail to appear for its on-going probe on sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil amounting to over $2.4 billion, and crude oil export to global destinations. The House ad-hoc committee investigating an alleged loss of over $2.4 billion from illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil export in 2015, including crude…

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Stakeholders seek stiffer penalties for crude oil thieves

Aminu Imam

Stakeholders at a one-day meeting to discuss crude oil/products stealing in the country have lamented the economic impact, hence have made a call for stiffer penalties for culprits. The One-Day Stakeholders Conference on Oil Theft/Losses in Abuja, on Tuesday, was organised by Chairman of the Panel and Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme PAP Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu. Speaking as a Special Guest, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo stressed that so grievous a crime cannot simply be a subject of summitry;  but that“people must do their jobs and if they are unable to…

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Former DPR, NUPRC, attributes 40% of crude losses to measurement faults, not theft

Aminu Imam

Approximately 40 percent of the volumes credited to crude losses in the Nigerian petroleum industry are attributable to measurement inaccuracies and not theft as often reported. The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, stated this at the Petroleum Club Quarterly Dinner, which was held in Lagos. Komolafe said the revelation followed a forensic audit conducted by the Commission between January 2020 to November 2022 on crude theft numbers, to ascertain with accuracy the stolen volume of crude oil within the reference period. Delivering his address…

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Oil theft: ‘7-yr-old’ illegal tapping point uncovered in Rivers community 

Aminu Imam

An illegal tapping point on the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP) has been uncovered in the Nonwa Uedume community, of Tai local government area, Rivers State. The Executive Chairman of Tai LGA, Rivers, Mbakpone Okpe, led the discovery team to the site on Monday. Others present at the site include security operatives of the Nigerian Army, officers of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tai local security task force and pipeline surveillance contractors. Speaking on the incident, the Executive Director, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, in an issued…

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‘$1bn crude oil shipped as illegal export from Nigeria between 2016-2019’ – AuGF Report

Aminu Imam

Crude oil, Nigeria’s main export, continues to dwindle from the effect of scandalous corruption in the oil sector as a report by the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF), has revealed the latest news of sleaze in the country’s oil and gas shipping. According to the AuGF’s report, more than 17.877 million barrels of crude oil, “valued at $1,020,969,281.12 (One billion, twenty million, nine hundred and sixty-nine thousand, two hundred and eighty-one dollars, twelve cents only), were exported from 2016 to 2019 without proper documentation. According to the report, which was…

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Crude Oil Thefts: “We have no record of ships working on Nigerian oil fields” – NIMASA

Aminu Imam

In the face of on-going bursts on crude oil thefts and illegal activities taking place in Nigerian oil fields, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), has said that it has no record or access to the ships coming into the oil fields through the International Oil Companies (IOCs). Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the hiring of former Niger Delta warlord, Chief Government Tompolo, and his security company, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited to check crude oil theft in the Niger Delta. The security outfit has so…

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Oil theft: Another major export pipeline of stolen 400,000bpd crude, platform uncovered

Aminu Imam

Operatives of the company owned by ex-Niger-Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, and security officials have uncovered a key illegal underwater pipeline attached to Trans-Forcados Export Trunkline, and a platform through which crude oil was being diverted to the high seas for export. The discovery by the company, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd (TSSNL), which is coming few days after an illegal 4-kilometre crude oil pipeline belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was exposed, was made about a week ago by operatives of TSSNL through an exclusive…

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