By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South Vanguard
Security operatives, lawyers, activists, environmentalists, and other stakeholders of the Niger Delta have revealed that the actual stealing of the nation’s crude oil occurs at the various export terminals and flow stations in the country and not in the refining camps in the creeks.
Stakeholders, who rebuked former President Olusegun Obasanjo for alleged mischievousness on his claim that Nigeria had no record of its oil production, said Obasanjo had the opportunity to address the problem while in office, but he looked the other way.
They said the International Oil Companies, IOCs, officials of the Federal Government, and security agents masterminded the rip-off, beseeching the President, Bola Tinubu, to evolve a blueprint to fight oil thieves.
The volume of crude oil exported is purposely undervalued – Morris, environmentalist
Programs Manager, Environmental Rights Action, ERA, Bayelsa Office, Mr. Alagoa Morris, said: ”It is most unfortunate that we are in a clime where advocacy in the interest of our society is treated with levity by those in the corridors of power. What the former President said is not new to some of us, especially as the Environmental Rights Action.”
“We had long advocated proper metering, particularly from the flow- stations, to record the volume of crude oil extracted from each oil field.
”Agreed that from the geological formation, what comes out from the oil wells are the three components of water, crude oil, and gas, it is at the flow stations that separation is made – gas flared (instead of being re-injected or channeled for other economic purposes); water sent back to the environment; and crude oil transported to Tank Farms for export.
“With proper metering, Nigeria should know the volume of crude oil leaving each flow station, and the quantity that finally gets to the tank farm. It can calculate loss to oil thieves or incidents of spills.
”This is the reason behind the advocacy, but unfortunately, the authorities have continued to give conflicting daily production.
”Of concern is the revelation that there is bigger oil thievery at the export terminals, where quantities or volume of crude oil exported are undervalued. This is because of the criminal collaboration between the oil companies, security agencies at export terminals, and officials of Federal Government regulatory agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL. With such, to know the exact quantity or volume of crude the nation produces daily is impossible.
”About the crude oil thievery at the export terminals, a paper presented by a top naval officer during the climax of 2014 Bayelsa Security Week had it in black and white. He indicted the security agencies, oil companies, and federal government officials at export terminals.
”And, I will let you have the section of his presentation referring to this criminal collaboration at export terminals. Even from this perspective, one can conclude that it is very true that Nigeria does not have exact knowledge of her daily crude oil production…made so by corruption.”
Manifest of foreign vessels in their mother tongue – Ex-security operative
A former security operative corroborating the claim, said, “The nation’s crude oil production reeks with corruption, especially at the export terminals where vessels laden with crude oil are often undervalued.”
He fingered highly- -placed government officials, the NNPCL, and the security agencies of complicity in the thievery.
“The problem with our country is that we are always chasing shadows instead of doing the right thing. Corruption is entrenched in the nation’s oil industry, especially at the export terminals.
“In my time, sometimes, the manifest of the foreign vessels that came to load crude is in their mother tongue and you are at a loss as per the actual quantity they were billed to load. Because they have the backing of some ‘ogas’, there is little or nothing you can do. If you insist on doing the proper thing as a patriot, they post you out.”
Nigeria ripped off daily – Mudiga-Odje, NDDU facilitator
The Facilitator of the Niger Delta Democratic Union, NDDU, Dr. Akpo Mudiaga –Odje, said the group, and other concerned Nigerians, had called on the Federal Government and NNPCL “to tell Nigerians with arithmetic certainty the amount of crude oil we produce every day, every week, every month and every year, long ago.”
“To date, neither the Federal Government of Nigeria nor the NNPCL has been able to supply us with any such data.
”Indeed, without such reliable data, there becomes a holistic room for manipulation in the system.
”I recall that in 1984, the former Chief of Staff, Gen Tunde Idiagbon, usually as a commendable practice, publicly disclosed how many barrels of crude oil sold as well as income made from same to Nigerians every month.
“This is the act of transparency we urgently require from the Federal Government of Nigeria and the NNPCL to get first-hand information on this vexed issue.
“The nation is ripped off by the non-disclosure of the amount of crude oil produced daily and/or income accruing to the Federation Account from such sales.
“We, therefore, call on the NNPCL, especially, to procure the necessary equipment to enable it to ascertain the amount of crude oil we produce and export daily so that Nigerians can get a piece of first-hand information on the sale and management of their commonwealth.
”The most important priority now is for the NNPCL to immediately procure the required equipment to determine the quantity of crude oil we produce in this country every day, every week, every month, and every year.
“Once this is achieved with substantial certainty, the next is to secure the production, distribution, and exportation.
Why NNPCL cannot stop oil thieves – Igbini, oil industry stakeholder
An oil industry stakeholder and former labor leader, Mr. Emmanuel Igbini, fired by a multinational oil company, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited, now TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria Limited in 2000 for exposing the massive fraud perpetuated by oil companies, wrote to Obasanjo about the matter, but he took no action.
“So why did he wait so long till after his tenure to confess this fact that was well known to him? He queried.
Igbini, however, stated pointedly that NNPCL could not tackle this problem, adding, “Because there have been various media reports, over the years, of arrests, investigations, and prosecutions of some of the top management staff of the NNPC for their alleged involvement in massive theft of crude oil and or their collusion with those petro-terrorists in these multinational oil companies.”
His words: “NNPCL, as it is composed today, is largely made up of people from the same NNPC, and worse is that they are now made almost unaccountable to Nigeria. Whatever the Board and Management choose to declare to Nigerians as the volume of crude produced and sold and net income derived from it, is what the nation accepts and works with. It is sad!”
What Tinubu should do
To solve the problem, I counsel President Tinubu to retain the Minister of Petroleum Resources. He will exercise his constitutional power to declare full-scale military war against those bent on undermining the national security, economy, peace, and order of our country.
“Our country is in this state of calamity because majorly the needed foreign revenues from the petroleum sector are being looted through massive stealing of the nation’s crude oil.
Why is OBJ telling us now – Akpan, activist
Executive Director, COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding in Akwa Ibom State, Saviour Akpan, told Saturday Vanguard: ”I do not