The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) is to focus on oil theft, oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism in the nation's oil and gas industry.

The chairman of NEITI, Ledum Mittee, said this while unveiling NEITI's next target at a meeting on NEITI and its activities with the political and economic counsellors of the European Union member countries.

He said absence of reliable baseline information and data on the actual quantity of crude either lost through theft, bunkering or pipeline vandalism is responsible for the poor response and speculations over facts and figures required to deal with these complex problems.

"Full disclosure and public understanding of the quantity of crude oil either lost through vandalisation, bunkering or outright stealing and the enormous cost to the economy in financial terms will help draw national and international attention to the urgent need for solutions," he said.

He said NEITI hopes to include as part of its independent audit template to capture the quantity of crude stolen, quantity lost through bunkering and others through vandalism and conspiracy.

The head of the political section of the European Union, Mrs Belen Calvo -Uyarra said the meeting aimed at seeking ways of supporting the efforts of NEITI in enthroning transparency and accountability in the nation's extractive sector.