Nigeria may lose $23bn to oil theft in 2023, says Monguno

Babagana Monguno, the national security adviser, says the federal government may lose $23 billion in 2023 if crude oil theft continues.

He said this on Tuesday during the inauguration of a special investigation panel set up to check crude oil theft in the country.

Monguno expressed worries that the country currently produces one million barrels of crude oil per day as against the two million barrels daily target by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

While lamenting the poor revenue accruing from the oil sector, he charged members of the committee to work towards reducing the menace.

The committee is expected to submit its report by February 21, 2023.

The issue of oil theft has remained a source of concern to the government, with huge revenue diverted to the pockets of the perpetrators.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company had raised alarm over the level of revenue loss to oil theft.

“Every two days, you are talking of almost $150 million down the drain, that’s what the nation is losing as we speak,” the national oil company had said.

The senate committee investigating oil theft and its consequent damage to the country’s economy had said  Nigeria lost N1.3 trillion ($2 billion) to oil theft between January and August 2022.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had said about 1.2 million barrels of oil are shut-in consistently due to the menace in the country.