About 150, 000 barrels of oil, valued at N2.6 billion, are stolen daily in Nigeria, according to oil giant, Shell, which accounts for half of national oil output.

Ian Craig, Shell’s Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, speaking at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Forum in Abuja, attributed the development to the failure of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to meet its funding commitments.

He said Nigeria could produce four million barrels of oil per day (bpd) but that big changes would be needed for this to happen. “We still face major challenges because there is chronic underfunding of the onshore joint ventures where NNPC is the majority shareholder,” he said.

“The greatest challenge, however, is the massive organised oil theft business and the criminality and corruption which it fosters. This drives away talent, increases costs, reduces revenues both for investors and the government and results in major environmental impacts.”

According to Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, about 2.5 million bpd of combined crude oil condensate are currently produced in the country. “A major enhancement of deepwater oil production was achieved as a result of the arrival of the FPSO Usan into the Nigerian waters; in a few weeks, oil production will increase by about 180,000 barrels per day,” she added.