by Wale Smith,
This is to respond to reports that Muhammadu Buhari says that former President Jonathan’s ministers stole one million barrels crude daily.
Now hold on, we need to put on our thinking caps here and ask some salient questions.
Firstly, Nigeria’s daily maximum crude oil production capacity is 2.5 million barrels and with an OPEC production quota of about 2 million barrels per day.
Secondly, Nigeria doesn’t produce the oil itself through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), rather it operates a concessionaire system with int’l oil majors by way of Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) or Joint Operation Agreements (JOAs) whereby the productions are undertaken by the oil majors after which it is sold and the profits shared in the ratio of about 60:40 in favour of the NNPC.
So how’s one million barrels of Nigeria’s oil productions stolen by Jonathan’s ministers when NNPC is not in doing the production? This figure is alarming when you consider the fact that the crude stolen by militants and others is not included in this alleged theft and the question becomes how much oil is left for export at the end of the day after deducting the alleged daily stolen crude from the maximum daily production capacity?
Was Nigeria not meeting its OPEC quota under Jonathan if not how’s one million barrels lost and we were still able to meet our OPEC quota?
I need answers because the figures are mind-blowing and the gullible and mischievous are already running around town with the so called “bombshell”.
I know that this is Buhari’s system of looting. He wants to use false allegation as a weapon to condemn, intimidate and threaten others while he loots.
Mere propaganda!
Wale Smith is a social and political commentator. He is on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
