Theft and disruptions knock Nigeria oil output to four-year low


Nigeria is suffering the worst oil production disruptions in four years, with output falling to levels last seen before the government’s amnesty programme ended the militancy in the Niger delta.

Industrial scale oil theft, sabotage and technical problems have caused crude output to drop to less than 1.9m barrels a day this summer, the lowest since mid-2009, when production briefly dipped to a 20-year low of 1.5m b/d. Any further fall would allow Angola to assume Nigeria’s position as the continent’s largest crude producer.

“Output has been less than 2m barrels a day for several months,” said Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy research at Ecobank. “It’s a reflection of the headwinds facing oil companies in Nigeria.” The country’s production difficulties have helped push global crude prices to a five-month high of $111 a barrel. They have also damaged the financial outlook in Africa’s second-biggest economy, where oil and gas account for nearly 80 per cent of fiscal revenues.

Nigeria budgeted for oil sales of 2.5m b/d in 2013, which combined with the high petroleum prices should have allowed for substantial savings in the Excess Crude Account, the government’s rainy-day fund. But instead of increasing, the fund has been run down from $9bn in December to $5.1bn in July.

Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered Bank, said falling oil revenues should be a worry for the Nigerian government, especially with a presidential election scheduled for early 2015. Previous polls have been preceded by a sharp increase in spending and leakages in revenue collection as politicians try to buy their way to power.

“Nigeria still has a comfortable current account surplus, but it is declining, as is the Excess Crude Account,” said Mrs Khan. “Unless we see a turnaround in oil revenues, investors are going to start to get concerned.”

Nigeria drastically reduced the number of oil worker kidnappings and pipeline bomb attacks in 2009 by persuading more than 26,000 militants to disarm in exchange for monthly cash payments, which are ongoing. While the violence has not returned, the theft of oil has grown into a vast and lucrative enterprise involving well-connected officials and security personnel.

More than 150,000 barrels of oil are reportedly stolen every day, with some feeding illegal refineries in the Niger delta and the bulk shipped to destinations as far away as Asia. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said in July that the country had lost $10.9bn in potential oil revenues to theft and sabotage from 2009 to 2011 – before the problem reached its current scale. By last year, losses had increased to $1bn a month, according to the government.

Oil majors have at times had to stop pumping from onshore oilfields because of thieves tapping into their pipelines, with Shell and Eni declaring force majeure this year. Inadequate maintenance procedures and ageing infrastructure, especially the 6,000km pipeline network, has added to the companies’ production woes.

The disruptions caused oil output to slip below 2m b/d in April, reaching a floor of 1.88m b/d in June, before increasing slightly to 1.92m b/d in July, according to the International Energy Agency. In 2011 and 2012, the country’s average production was 2.2m b/d and 2.1m b/d respectively. Angola, which briefly overtook Nigeria as the continent’s biggest producer in 2009, exports about 1.8m b/d, and hopes to hit 2m b/d by 2015.

Besides the domestic factors, shifting international dynamics are also working against Nigeria. The US has long been the biggest buyer of its crude, but the growth of the American shale industry is changing that. In February, US imports from Nigeria dropped to 194,000 b/d, an 18-year low, forcing Nigeria to find new buyers. Meanwhile, new oil and gas discoveries elsewhere in Africa – from Ghana to Mozambique – mean that petroleum companies have much greater choice than a few years ago over where to invest.

With 37.2bn barrels of provable oil reserves – more than three times that of Angola – Nigeria has much scope to increase oil production, and the government has talked for years about output of 4m b/d. But uncertainly over the petroleum industry bill, which is meant to transform the domestic industry – and increase the government’s fiscal take – has caused oil majors to delay approving new projects.

The mounting security problems and costs onshore have caused the likes of Shell and Chevron to sell off some assets to local players, and concentrate more on deepwater blocks.

Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fdd74c5e-0f09-11e3-8e58-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz2dD0y5cvO

Gangster's paradise.

So what's Tompolo doing with all the millions he's getting to secure the pipelines?

The contract should be revoked ASAP!.....at least a few millions could be saved from that end.

It's now looking like the 2013 budgeted figures for projected crude sales and price was a tad optimistic!

IGBO-SON:
So what's Tompolo doing with all the millions he's getting to secure the pipelines?

The contract should be revoked ASAP!.....at least a few millions could be saved from that end.

It's now looking like the 2013 budgeted figures for projected crude sales and price was a tad optimistic!

Its quite interesting. Tompolo's contract ended last year. As soon as the contract ended, the theft sky rocketed.
Now its difficult to say whether the end of Tompolo's contract is responsible for the increase or the initiation of the contract in the first place is responsible.
My take though is that various factors are responsible one of which is the effective conspiration of players inclusive of the International oil company staff, Militants, the Military and Government personnel alongside very influential politicians. And also foreign buyers of the stolen product.

What's happening with the PIB?

More than 150,000 barrels of oil are reportedly stolen every day

To steal 150,000 barrels of oil every day you need to have a very strong "backing". This is a huge amount of oil daily

PapaBrowne:

Its quite interesting. Tompolo's contract ended last year. As soon as the contract ended, the theft sky rocketed.
Now its difficult to say whether the end of Tompolo's contract is responsible for the increase or the initiation of the contract in the first place is responsible.
My take though is that various factors are responsible one of which is the effective conspiration of players inclusive of the International oil company staff, Militants, the Military and Government personnel alongside very influential politicians. And also foreign buyers of the stolen product.

^^^So basically we're all well and truly fuc/ked!

Is this some kind or secrete or revelation especially with Jonathan borrowing money from everybody and their mama?

Here is the deal...

Jonathan refused to trim the government and his abolonje ku food bill as advised by his own endless committees.

The federal government is spending $8 out of every $10 on itself in Abuja with the left over $2 for the rest of the country aka 170 million people which is nothing and also what they end up looting also so there is nothing left to do anything for the average Nigerian...

Now even with the $8 they keep in Abuja and with low oil receipts, the $8 is at this moment not enough to service the government so instead of trimming down, they set out to borrow money to fill in the gap, to steal and spend on 2015 election propaganda projects..

Bottom line, Nigeria is broker than broke and since our economy is yet to be diversified and the leadership is still not serious about the looming financial danger and meltdown, we have no choice but to keep stretching out our hands begging and borrowing for even basic needs..

As much as GEJ is working, am disappointed with the way he's handling corruption. Mehn! If u solve the issue of corruption and "the police", you have solved 85% of our problem.
Mehn, GEJ as much as I would want to vote for you, this corruption issue would give me a rethink, no matter what he does, as long there's this level of corruption it will eat up the revamped airports, roads, privatised phcn, railways and spew the vomit for Nigerians to eat.

This is where the opposition should be criticizing and checking the government or even make promises instead of blabbing about 40000mw without any plan about how they would realize such goal.

Well, I'd say it runs in Nigerians blood, since even religious leaders are not setting good examples.

Promhize: As much as GEJ is working, am disappointed with the way he's handling corruption. Mehn! If u solve the issue of corruption and "the police", you have solved 85% of our problem.
Mehn, GEJ as much as I would want to vote for you, this corruption issue would give me a rethink, no matter what he does, as long there's this level of corruption it will eat up the revamped airports, roads, privatised phcn, railways and spew the vomit for Nigerians to eat.

This is where the opposition should be criticizing and checking the government or even make promises instead of blabbing about 40000mw without any plan about how they would realize such goal.

Well, I'd say it runs in Nigerians blood, since even religious leaders are not setting good examples.

I can see you are scared to admit that this Jonathan-led administration is a failure.

Horus:

To steal 150,000 barrels of oil every day you need to have a very strong "backing". This is a huge amount of oil daily

They've got the retardeen's backing and that's all they need.

Very shameful I tell you..

We should learn to call a spade a spade in Nigeria. Heck, they do so in all other Countries while we prefer acting like fraudsters talking around the obvious truth. The Presidency is behind this or complicit in it same as GEJ and Allison-Madueke were behind the fuel subsidy scam. No two ways about it. How can oil theft now be worse or at the same level as when militancy and violence was at its highest level? Under GEJ, there is no discipline at all and crooks and opportunists are just stealing Nigeria blind in every sector.

In sane nations, this President will be stopped before Nigeria is bankrupt. Yet we have a likely brain-damaged man angling to 'return' as Governor, as an example of the 'madness' of Nigeria, so I guess "suffering and smiling" will continue in our nation where anything goes.

Gbawe: We should learn to call a spade a spade in Nigeria. Heck, they do so in all other Countries while we prefer acting like fraudsters talking around the obvious truth. The Presidency is behind this or complicit in it same as GEJ and Allison-Madueke were behind the fuel subsidy scam. No two ways about it. How can oil theft now be worse or at the same level as when militancy and violence was at its highest level? Under GEJ, there is no discipline at all and crooks and opportunists are just stealing Nigeria blind in every sector.

In sane nations, this President will be stopped before Nigeria is bankrupt. Yet we have a likely brain-damaged man angling to 'return' as Governor, as an example of the 'madness' of Nigeria, so I guess "suffering and smiling" will continue in our nation where anything goes.

Suffering, shuffling and smiling to continual penury.

Gbawe: We should learn to call a spade a spade in Nigeria. Heck, they do so in all other Countries while we prefer acting like fraudsters talking around the obvious truth. The Presidency is behind this or complicit in it same as GEJ and Allison-Madueke were behind the fuel subsidy scam. No two ways about it. How can oil theft now be worse or at the same level as when militancy and violence was at its highest level? Under GEJ, there is no discipline at all and crooks and opportunists are just stealing Nigeria blind in every sector.

In sane nations, this President will be stopped before Nigeria is bankrupt. Yet we have a likely brain-damaged man angling to 'return' as Governor, as an example of the 'madness' of Nigeria, so I guess "suffering and smiling" will continue in our nation where anything goes.

I concur. It is impossible to steal such huge quantity of national resources where there is a government in place, unless it is government people that are doing the stealing. This "Government" should be removed before they suck Nigeria dry

Gbawe: We should learn to call a spade a spade in Nigeria. Heck, they do so in all other Countries while we prefer acting like fraudsters talking around the obvious truth. The Presidency is behind this or complicit in it same as GEJ and Allison-Madueke were behind the fuel subsidy scam. No two ways about it. How can oil theft now be worse or at the same level as when militancy and violence was at its highest level? Under GEJ, there is no discipline at all and crooks and opportunists are just stealing Nigeria blind in every sector.

In sane nations, this President will be stopped before Nigeria is bankrupt. Yet we have a likely brain-damaged man angling to 'return' as Governor, as an example of the 'madness' of Nigeria, so I guess "suffering and smiling" will continue in our nation where anything goes.

You have always been an extremist with one dimensional thinking like a car with no gears just "on and off"

Horus:

I concur. It is impossible to steal such huge quantity of national resources where there is a government in place, unless it is government people that are doing the stealing. This "Government" should be removed before they suck Nigeria dry

This is the bottom line. Jonathan is a very crude poster child for opportunism, self-aggrandizement and inordinately selfish personal ambition. The problem is that millions of lives are put at risk indulging such an unfit and clueless individual who is not even clever enough to at least cover his tracks.

Hi is not interested in making out that wrong and corrupt actions against Nigeria are incidental and not cynically deliberate machinations of the Presidency and the ruling Party. What we are seeing now is nothing short of disgraceful. Nigeria, currently, should provide the material for a manual titled "how never to run a nation".

Gbawe:

This is the bottom line. Jonathan is a very crude poster child for opportunism, self-aggrandizement and inordinately selfish personal ambition. The problem is that millions of lives are put at risk indulging such an unfit and clueless individual who is not even clever enough to at least cover his tracks.

Hi is not interested in making out that wrong and corrupt actions against Nigeria are incidental and not cynically deliberate machinations of the Presidency and the ruling Party. What we are seeing now is nothing short of disgraceful. Nigeria, currently, should provide the material for a manual titled "how never to run a nation".

@Gbawe..,the chief hunter of BAD news is already here. No surprises.

Yes, oil production now is low but that too is temporary. It will be fixed.

Promhize: As much as GEJ is working, am disappointed with the way he's handling corruption. Mehn! If u solve the issue of corruption and "the police", you have solved 85% of our problem.
Mehn, GEJ as much as I would want to vote for you, this corruption issue would give me a rethink, no matter what he does, as long there's this level of corruption it will eat up the revamped airports, roads, privatised phcn, railways and spew the vomit for Nigerians to eat.

This is where the opposition should be criticizing and checking the government or even make promises instead of blabbing about 40000mw without any plan about how they would realize such goal.

Well, I'd say it runs in Nigerians blood, since even religious leaders are not setting good examples.

And you think the president or govt is happy the revenue from oil dropped? See, the TRUTH is that there are problems that have no quick fix. Fixing crude oil theft is not like tarring a road. It will take a concerted effort from communities, security agencies, state and federal govt and deployment of technology to curb it. Passing of the PIB and re-structuring of the security posted in that area will help. If you have other solutions, you can share with us

Sincere 9gerian:
@Gbawe..,the chief hunter of BAD news is already here. No surprises.

Yes, oil production now is low but that too is temporary. It will be fixed.

Gutter snipes is all you are capable of as a small-minded cretin lacking ideas or the ability to focus on issues. When one then deals with your uncouthness, your fellow GEJ crybaby worshippers will be here crying on your behalf.

It is only fraudsters like you, because Nigeria has warped many to be the way you are, who would call someone telling the truth "hunter of bad news". In sane climate, GEJ would be nowhere near leading a decent school let alone a nation. Yet I cannot blame you. I doubt you have ever set foot outside Nigeria to know that blatant criminality and corruption, especially perpetrated by those elected to lead a nation, is not supported openly as you and others do here. Guy, you are sick. I mean it. Very sick.

Gbawe:

Gutter snipes is all you are capable of as a small-minded cretin lacking ideas or the ability to focus on issues. When one then deals with your uncouthness, your fellow GEJ crybaby worshippers will be here crying on your behalf.

It is only fraudsters like you, because Nigeria has warped many to be the way you are, who would call someone telling the truth "hunter of bad news". In sane climate, GEJ would be nowhere near leading a decent school let alone a nation. Yet I cannot blame you. I doubt you have ever set foot outside Nigeria to know that blatant criminality and corruption, especially perpetrated by those elected to lead a nation, is not supported openly as you and others do here. Guy, you are sick. I mean it. Very sick.

I concur in all its entirety wt yr submission about that charlatan called 'Uncerebral 9gerian. One can't imagine the childish analogy vomitted by him that some problems takes time to get corrected. But I ask is it the problem deliberately created by the gov n its corrupt allies or those ones caused by people govt normally called saboteurs?

Methink that govt of PDP have deliberately allowed crude oil theft to fester and become endemic in order to empower some people thru the back door

You can only get confused at something u ddnt kno it source ab initio...and not at a problem u created yrself

pullyacap:

I concur in all its entirety wt yr submission about that charlatan called 'Uncerebral 9gerian. One can't imagine the childish analogy vomitted by him that some problems takes time to get corrected. But I ask is it the problem deliberately created by the gov n its corrupt allies or those ones caused by people govt normally called saboteurs?

Methink that govt of PDP have deliberately allowed crude oil theft to fester and become endemic in order to empower some people thru the back door

You can only get confused at something u ddnt kno it source ab initio...and not at a problem u created yrself

You hit the nail on the head. As for uncouth9gerian, he is simply a petty and dishonest charlatan. The worst sort of praise-singer imaginable.

With GEJ, what he is getting away with unchallenged is a mark of how dubious and morally warped our political landscape is. The simple truth is that there is a direct correlation between oil theft being highest when militants held sway in the creeks, before amnesty, and when they now hold sway today pro-amnesty and after being legitimately contracted to protect oil pipelines. Under Yar Adua, they had amnesty but there was no mad decision to hand pipeline protection contracts to militant warlords thus no return to levels of crude oil theft that was seen before the militant warlords vacated the creeks for choice Asokoro Mansions. As you correctly opined, this is just a crude way to financially empower some folks by a President who does "not give a damn".

Those who should worry about Odili part 2 being played out right before their very eyes and that will enslave the ND for another 20 years, with arms and political/financial might in the hands of militants and cultists, are too busy clannishly and unintelligently supporting GEJ to realise they are cutting their nose to spite their face.

GEJ is not intelligent or morally upright enough to discern the long term effect of what he is doing. Is it just to enrich and empower "might is right" because you feel those who embody such are best equipped to help you maintain/consolidate power by whatever means to include violence? In a nation of many fraudsters, especially in politics, no one wants to say or move against the obvious malevolence some are planning for but we will see the negative manifestations of such eventually - as another major headache for Nigeria. The sad thing is that no one will remember those who deliberately created such. Is Odili not chilling in Abuja today while kidnapping, an offshoot of his deliberate arming of jobless young men for political gains, not seriously troubling some parts of Nigeria today?

Perhaps those lickspittle hypocrites in the worst traditions of Uriah Heep who are shamelessly slating GEJ will apply their sham indignation in equal measure to Bola Tinubu.

We hear the LASG has now reversed itself on the Lekki Toll policy.We are waiting to see the ingenuity of the Nairaland spinners who shamelessly backed the policy and now are in the unviable position of having to explain and justify the unjustifiable. But then assuming "positions" is what prostitutes do so nothing new there I suppose. Even a profeessional contortionist would cringe at the things these clowns do

Nairalanders can see the article below, from May 2012 i.e over a year ago, to note that many relevant and involved analysts/stakeholders have sounded warning we would arrive at this situation given what we were all seeing. Yet things continued to worsen under GEJ, like the fuel subsidy scam, in confirmation to pragmatic observers that those who pretend to be seeking solutions are behind the problem. To think, the warning below came over a year ago and almost two years after the subsidy riot that took Nigerian lives yet still no PIB. Go figure good people of Nigeria.

http://www.nncpo.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=838:oil-thieves-have-hijacked-political-power-&catid=37:nigerianews&Itemid=67

Oil Thieves Have Hijacked Political Power - NNPC raises alarm •Says Nigeria loses 180,000 crude oil barrels to oil thieves daily

Written by Idowu Samuel Friday, 25 May 2012


CRIMINALS and crude oil thieves have taken over the oil fields in the Niger Delta and have used the proceeds of oil theft to hijack political power in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), raised the alarm on Thursday. The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparent Initiative (NEITI), Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had earlier lamented the activities of the crude oil thieves in the creeks of Niger Delta, whose activities she said had denied Nigeria a whopping sum of $4.6 million in just two years.The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Austin Oniwon, lamented the increasing wave of criminal activities in the Niger Delta, which he said was causing Nigeria to lose an estimated 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Ghana, he noted, required only 120,000 barrels of crude oil daily to survive, expressing dismay that the rate at which criminals were prospecting for crude oil illegally in the country had reached an alarming level.
Oniwon said the miscreants behind illegal oil bunkering in the zone had sponsored the election of local government chairmen and now have the capacity to sponsor and produce more state governors, adding that they even have the potential to fund the emergence of a Nigerian president in the future.
He dropped the hints when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), paid him a courtesy visit, as part of their oversight function, as he urged the lawmakers to enact legislation aimed at arresting the increasing wave of oil theft in Nigeria.

He said it was regrettable to note that criminals had taken over the most part of Niger Delta...” They have amassed so much wealth that they are beginning to look for political power. They have been sponsoring local government chairmen. The chairmen have also been sponsoring governors. And these people, if not checked in time, will one day produce the president of Nigeria.”
He said such a situation had occurred in countries like Colombia and Mexico where criminals dealing in drugs sponsored the presidents of the countries as a means of promoting their illegal trades.

Oniwon said Nigeria should waste no time in combating the nefarious activities of the oil thieves against the implication of its neighbours like Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, which are now producing oil in commercial quantities, a development which may cripple the economy of Nigeria, anchored mainly on oil.

The NNPC boss urged the National Assembly not to delay in passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which, he noted, was capable of curbing irregularities in the Nigerian oil sector, adding that the bill, if eventually passed into law had the capacity to promote the emergence of a strong national oil company.

The House Committee Chairman on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Honourable Ajibola Muraina, who led members to the NNPC Towers, Abuja, equally lamented the growing capacity of crude oil thieves, as he urged the government of Nigeria to devise stringent means of preventing criminals from prospecting Nigeria’s crude oil illegally.
Muraina said the House of Representatives would work harmoniously with NNPC in sanitising the oil industry, even as he urged the corporation to, henceforth, begin to implement most of the recommendations by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the means of maintaining sanity in the Nigerian oil sector

150000 is a big lie. They are stealing nothing less than 400,000 per day.

Horus:

To steal 150,000 barrels of oil every day you need to have a very strong "backing". This is a huge amount of oil daily

Hahahaha! Just having a laugh at naive Nairalanders.

The truth is that 2015 is fast approaching and the election has to be findef. With the level of opposition against GEJ's candidature, he needs money, real money in hard currency to execute his 2015 ambition and with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala holding the nation's purse, they know the woman won't release any penny for political jobbing so they have to get the money from source before it gets under the watchful eyes of Madam NOI.

It was her refusal to release money for OBJ's 3rd term agenda that led to her removal as minister of Finance and subsequent redeployment to the foreign affairs ministry which eventually led to her resignation.

james_ibor: Hahahaha! Just having a laugh at naive Nairalanders.

The truth is that 2015 is fast approaching and the election has to be findef. With the level of opposition against GEJ's candidature, he needs money, real money in hard currency to execute his 2015 ambition and with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala holding the nation's purse, they know the woman won't release any penny for political jobbing so they have to get the money from source before it gets under the watchful eyes of Madam NOI.

It was her refusal to release money for OBJ's 3rd term agenda that led to her removal as minister of Finance and subsequent redeployment to the foreign affairs ministry which eventually led to her resignation.

Absolutely correct. The political desperation of team GEJ today is even more severe than that which prompted the fuel subsidy scam along with many other 'daylight robberies' seen everywhere such as the depletion of the ECA to the tune of billions of dollars. Nigeria remains a theatre of the absurd where crooks are drafted in to be judges in their own criminal cases.

This is why the international community has scant regard for GEJ and his hypocritical "help us fight oil theft" message. Unlike Nigerians, they don't entertain emotions and bias that blinds them from noting those guilty of actions and inactions that is abetting all we are seeing.

Horus:

To steal 150,000 barrels of oil every day you need to have a very strong "backing". This is a huge amount of oil daily

dnt confuse urself with figures just yet:
did u eva careed to undstnd dt pipe lines 'are' not just lcated in one region, and vandals are not just one gang?

but yeah, i got the ;strong backing' aspect. that is true

with the level at which these people mention these monetary figures i'm afraid there might be no money for the younger generation to embellze.


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So who is benefitting from the winfall

james_ibor: Hahahaha! Just having a laugh at naive Nairalanders.

The truth is that 2015 is fast approaching and the election has to be findef. With the level of opposition against GEJ's candidature, he needs money, real money in hard currency to execute his 2015 ambition and with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala holding the nation's purse, they know the woman won't release any penny for political jobbing so they have to get the money from source before it gets under the watchful eyes of Madam NOI.

It was her refusal to release money for OBJ's 3rd term agenda that led to her removal as minister of Finance and subsequent redeployment to the foreign affairs ministry which eventually led to her resignation.

Having said the above, I'm still a staunch member of Team GEJ 2015. Sadly, that's how elections are funded in Nigeria irrespective of who is in power. How was ACN funded? By the stolen commonwealth of Lagosians and other SW states.

Sincere 9gerian:
@Gbawe..,the chief hunter of BAD news is already here. No surprises.
Yes, oil production now is low but that too is temporary. It will be fixed.

dude, is it a curse to Nigerians that intelligence shld be things u drag in the mud?

Like, one thing for sure, u are a lil' bit intelligent! But since u are a sycophant, it seems u didn't realise how dumb u sound on every post trying to defend the 'oppressors' and justifying the injustice!

Oh yeah, - the problem is temporal and would be fixed soon!

Like someone told u it's the pipes that are leaking, of the valves are damaged!

Why not call on the plumbers to 'fix it soon'!!!

Confused thing!!!