Nigeria: Crude Theft - Stakeholders Accuse Govt Agencies, Oil Traders of Collusion

19 August 2013

Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have accused oil companies, crude oil traders and government agencies that man the crude oil exporting terminals of connivance to steal the nation's crude oil. Specifically, the stakeholders pointed accusing fingers at officials of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and representatives of oil workers, Customs as well as officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others, who supervise crude oil lifting at the various export terminals of "aiding and abetting oil theft".

Describing the act as "organised crime", the stakeholders, who pleaded anonymity said some of the oil companies were frustrating the use of meters to monitor the nation's crude oil production and exports because they are involved in the illicit oil trade. They argued that where the meters were in place, oil theft still continued unabated because firms granted approval by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to lift crude are deliberately allowed to exceed their commercially allowable quota.

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