Nigerian unit of Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, has
admitted that the spate of crude oil theft from its
facilities in the Niger Delta is reducing, a development he
attributed to the surveillance of the Joint Task Force, JTF,
set up by the Nigerian Government to check the menace.
Shell had constantly complained about the high
incidence of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft,
resulting in revenue losses estimated at over $10billion
annually. The company had in fact, recently threatened
to shut down its operations if the nothing was done to
contain it urgently.

Furthermore, Shell has declared more force majeure
since the year began than any other oil major operating
in Nigeria, a legal clause that absolves it from contractual
obligations for failure to meet supply agreements.
However, speaking on the sideline of the Offshore
Technology Conference, OTC 2013, in Houston Texas,
USA, the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr.
Mutiu Sunmonu said, “certainly it was on the increase a
few months ago, but I can also tell you, I have seen
increased attention by the government security
agencies, the JTF, Navy, really moving in to stem the
tide. So I wouldn’t say I am happy, but I can see
improvement in the responsiveness of the government
security agencies.”

The Shell boss refused to quantify, as he regularly did in
the past how much oil had been saved since the JTF
swung into action, but rather said, “I will be in a position
to tell you when our Nembe creek trunkline is back up,
but right now, that line is down. Like I said, we are
removing the bunkering points from that line, once all
those bunkering points are removed, and the line is up
and running, we will then be in a position to judge how
much oil we are still losing. But right now, whatever
figure, I give you, is really going to be artificial.”

For him, what is most important is the fact that the JTF is
getting more and more effective. “We are having almost
a daily discussion with them and they do give us good
reports on their efforts so far. I have been in discussion
personally myself with the Chief of Naval Staff and the
Chief of Army Staff and they have all given their
commitments to work with oil the companies to stem the
tide.

“We are seeing progress, but like I tell you, this is a very
big operation, so I am not expecting solution over night,
but what I am expecting is that government security
agencies will really keep at what they are doing now. If
they keep at it for a while, I am sure we will begin to see
a significant reduction.

“There is hardly any day that they foiling attempt, they
are arresting vessels, they are destroying illegal
refineries. In a place like Bodo for instance, in a week or
two ago, they foiled over 30 different attempts by crude
oil thieves wanting to attack additional tamping point to
our line. We see all these successes everyday, but we
just need to keep at it, because you cannot afford to take
your eyes off the ball.”

As far as the force majeure is concerned, Sunmonu noted
that this will keep up for a while until “we fully recover
because even with all the efforts that government
security agencies are putting in, there are some steps we
need to take together jointly in order to make sure the
effects are not continuing.

“So the force majeure that you have seen declared is for
us to some of the very bad bunkering points that have
been put on the line, because we don’t remove them,
even if you have the whole Nigerian Army in the creek,
you still continue to see crude being stolen. So our initial
attempt is to remove those bunkering points to
compliment what the security agencies are doing.”

Source:www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/shell-says-crude-oil-theft-is-reducing/

Good Job JTF..but more still needs to be done

Good...but like I say on the other thread, it has to be SUSTAINED in other to make crude oil theft effectively checked, once and for all

Indeed, a nice effort at steming the tide of the incessant crude oil theft and i quite agree with taharqa regarding its sustainability.

taharqa: Good...but like I say on the other thread, it has to be SUSTAINED in other to make crude oil theft effectively checked, once and for all

Ya...sustainability should be the key word..I urged all parties involved to intensify efforts to stem the tide at the end of those that buy the stolen crude..the much talked about DNA finger print should be implemented without further delay..lyk shell MD said there are things that his company would at their own end to stem the tide...they should also hasten up...

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