Nigeria crude oil production suffers another setback, as a fresh indication, shows that the nation was still losing 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily to theft and vandalism.
This is coming even as Nigeria’s grade of crude oil Bonny Light rose to $64.3 per barrel in the international market.
According to international market pricing made available to journalists on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, West Texas Intermediate, WTI crude and Brent Crude benchmarks were both trading up by 2 percent, with Brent at over $66 and the U.S. benchmark trading at $62.80.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, group managing director, Mele Kyari, during a meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor, along with the corporation’s top management team at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, commended the security agencies for their support and called for more protection for NNPC’s operational assets and personnel.
According to him, “Though petroleum products theft on the System 2B Pipeline has reduced considerably due to support from the security agencies, but the nation is still losing about 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily to theft and vandalism.
“We have two sets of losses, one coming from our products and the other coming from crude oil. “In terms of crude losses, it is still going on.
On average, we are losing 200,000 barrels of crude every day.” On his part, Irabor, promised to galvanize the military to provide maximum security for the nation’s oil and gas assets.
“I am delighted that you made this effort, and I tell you that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will collaborate with you to protect NNPC’s assets.
“There is a need for collaboration between the NNPC and the Armed Forces to protect oil and gas facilities which he described as the critical national assets.
“It is my intention to cooperate maximally with you and to give necessary instructions to all officers in the Armed Forces given that our existence, economically, rests almost solely on the NNPC, and to that extent, we must do everything possible to give you everything that you require,” the CDS stated.
Source: Vanguard
