Stakeholders have called for an end to oil theft. This was at the yearly conference of the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) held in Lagos last week. Assistant Editor Emeka Ugwuanyi and Akinola Ajibade report.
Nigeria is losing about 400,000 barrels per day to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
And the figure could go up, if the menace is not tackled, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, has said.
Kuku spoke at the just-held yearly conference of the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) in Lagos.
He said in some communities, oil theft has outstripped fishing and farming. It is damaging and supplanting legitimate economic activities, he said.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) Commander, Maj-Gen Emmanuel Atuwe and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Energia Limited, Mr. Felix Amieyeofori, painted gory pictures of the sector and proffered solution toi the problems.
According to Atuwe, there is need for more collaboration among security agencies. Refineries and filling stations, he said, should be built in the riverine areas to give them sense of belonging because they host oil. He noted that there is need for every kilometre of pipeline to be monitored by the host communities and the oil firms to honour their memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
Atuwe said the JTF and the Ministry of Justice were meeting to ensure that pipeline vandals serve jail terms. The meeting, he said, became imperative to ensure speedy trial of suspected vandals.
The Federal Government set up the Task force to ensure 24-hour patrol of oil installations to check pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and other criminalities in the industry. But Atuwe noted that cases abound where vandals were arrested, remanded, and released on bail and they reappear in the creeks to continue their crimes.
“The undue release of these vandals must be stopped if the country would achieve meaningful progress in the fight against pipeline vandalism and oil theft,’’he said.
He said the safety of the pipelines would be guaranteed, when offenders were being brought to book. He said: “Pipeline vandalism, oil theft and associated crimes persist because perpetrators were prevented from facing the law. Cases abound where people are released on bail, when they committed offences that deserve punishment under the criminal code. The need to ensure that justice prevails, informed the meeting with the Ministry of Justice. ‘’
Atuwe said the zero tolerance policy declared on pipeline vandals was still in force, despite the surge in the criminal activities.“When I resumed office as the Commander, Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield in January 2014, I declared zero tolerance against pipeline vandalism to stop the activities of the perpetrators. The order is being maintained because we want to stop the crime. We are policing the creeks and other areas where there are pipelines. We work throughout the night.
“We arrested a vessel that was used to steal oil two days ago. As a nation, we should get angry with the depletion of oil, protect the industry and the economy. Pipeline destruction is an offence that I think the perpetrators should not be allowed to go scot free. Anybody caught breaking oil pipes deserves a jail term, hence the need to meet Justice Ministry on the issue so they can help us in that regard,” he said.
He said the JTF has enough facilities to deal with the situation, adding that more collaboration among the security agencies is needed to stop vandalism.
According to him, anyone caught stealing oil should not be released until the court gives judgment. The execution of justice, Atuwe said, should not be limited to pipeline vandals, but also to oil bunkerers.
He said the need to look at the terminals through which oil is being exported illegally is imperative to solving the problem, adding that processes that would lead to speedy trial of oil thieves should be put in place for growth.
He urged the government to establish modern refineries in the Niger Delta to reduce unemployment, noting that the relationship between the oil companies and the communities has become soured in recent times.
“The relationship between oil companies and the communities was symbiotic before. There was trust between the two groups. The oil companies were meeting their obligations to the communities. At a point, trust was lost. Added to this is the impoverished nature of the communities. Poor infrastructure and unemployment in the oil producing communities are some of the factors that made the inhabitants to break pipelines,” he said.
Amieyeofori said there are about 6000km of flowlines and pipelines in the Niger Delta; about 400,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) are stolen. Between 2009 and 2011, $10 billion and $12 billion was lost to crude theft, he added.
He said about 100,000 bopd worth about $7 billion is lost yearly.
Nigeria, according to him, follows Mexico, Iraq, Russia and Indonesia on the top five countries most plagued by theft, adding that about 75 per cent of the stolen oil is being exported with the rest being refined in illegal at “artisanal refineries.”
Who is responsible for oil theft? He said it includes some unscrupulous Niger Delta indigenes who colaborate with foreigners.
These theft, he said, take place at oil terminals, pipelines and wellheads at night and the people who buy it include illegal artisan refineries in the mangroves.
He said stolen crude goes through the creeks at night with the aid of vessels that transfer into internationally registered vessels, sold to international buyers, processed international oil refineries and paid for using international accounts.
He said products from illegal refineries are sold locally at very low prices. He quoted Reuters as saying: “Stolen Nigerian oil worth billions of dollars is sold every year on international markets and much of the proceeds are laundered in world financial centres like Britain and United States.
“In the study done by Chatham House, it was found that the countries with the most imported stolen oil from Nigeria include the United States, several WestAfrican countries, Brazil, China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Balkans. The thieves are able to import the oil through the roles of commodity traders that work in the industry.”
