Nigeria has recorded its highest loss in crude oil over the past twenty years with an average of 245 million barrels being lost.
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), in the oil pipeline statistics report from their latest audit revealed that the huge loss was caused by various factors, including pipeline vandalism and reduced funding for various Joint Venture JV and cash call obligations.
Oil depletion in aging fields and specific technical challenges also contributed to the crude oil losses.
In 2016 crude oil production witnessed a new low of 659.13 million barrels per year which was a drop from the 700 million barrels mark since 1999.
The amount represented a 15.13 per cent drop from the 776.66 million barrels produced in 2015 and a 14.62 per cent drop from the 772 million barrels produced in 1999. It also means crude oil produced was a meager 4.47 per cent of the 14.7 billion barrels realized between 1999 and 2016.
The amount was made up of production from all sources and various arrangements the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) entered into. The production arrangements include JVs (between NNPC and 15 different oil companies, through production sharing contracts (PSCs), service contracts (SCs), sole risk operators (SROs), marginal field operators (MFOs).
Crude oil theft and sabotage according to the NEITI report between March and December of 2016 alone was of the averaged of 130 million barrels.
