In response to ongoing national oil resource theft, the Federal Government has disclosed plans to implement accountability and transparency measures into the production of oil and gas.
After 66 years of oil production, the nation aims to track the flow of oil and gas out of the nation and where it goes in the rest of the world.
Five new laws will be implemented as a result of these changes, some of which require the development of new oil fields, the development of gas, and the mandatory supply of crude oil to regional refineries.
While some information from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited suggested that Nigeria was losing about 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day to theft, suggesting a total loss of about $1.5 billion, its Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, was quoted as saying the country loses 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily to oil theft while speaking at the 49th session of the State House briefing at the Presidential Villa last year.
The National Assembly recently reported that the country experiences daily crude theft worth roughly $40 million, or $14.6 billion annually, because to issues with data accuracy.
The chairman of the commission, Gbenga Komolafe, boasted that the action would put an end to the secrecy surrounding data on oil and gas production while speaking in Abuja at the third Phase Stakeholders Consultative Forum on Draft Regulations pursuant to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
He asserts that the change is a step in the direction of accountability and transparency, and that it is past time for the nation to be aware of the precise amounts of oil production, gas production, and oil lifting through advance cargo declaration.
According to Dr. Nuhu Habib, who was speaking on behalf of the NUPRC as the Executive Commissioner for Development and Production, the country would follow the Saudi Arabian model, where regulators would oversee operations from the comfort of their offices.
“And it’s also the aspiration of the commission that this regulation will support Nigeria to achieve the reality where everybody on their own can actually have visibility around our production systems, from wellhead to terminal level and destinations.”
Komolafe pointed out that the initiative will primarily be funded by the oil corporations, who will be required to buy the technology and then connect it to government monitoring centers. No public money will be invested in the scheme, he said.
According to Kelechi Ofoegbu, Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation & Strategic Planning, (NUPRC), Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector has suffered over time due to a lack of accountability and transparency.
