According to the head of the firm, widespread oil theft in Nigeria involves churches that are keeping stolen petroleum from the country.
The chairman of the state oil corporation NNPC Ltd stated on Tuesday that the theft of millions of barrels involves all segments of Nigerian society, and that makeshift pipes and stolen gasoline have even been discovered in churches and mosques.
The widespread theft from the pipelines has severely slowed exports, caused several businesses to cease operations, and drained the country’s coffers.
Chief of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mele Kyari said he was not accusing institutions, including the government, but rather individuals at nearly every level of Nigerian society were siphoning off around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from what is typically Africa’s largest exporter.
There were “people of the communities, members of the religious leadership, and also, most likely, government officials,” Kyari added, because “some of the pipes and some of the items that we found are literally in churches and mosques.”
There was some initial confusion as to whether or not the authorities had also discovered crude oil in those areas.
Kyari said theft had caused at least 700 “lock-ins” of oil output, resulting in a 700,000 bpd drop in exports.
He said, “No one creates oil for the next person to take it.” To halt manufacturing would be prudent.
Kyari stated that a few of the pipeline taps were so complex that they spanned three to four kilometers and would have required cranes, industrial equipment, and a crew of forty people to complete.
As part of its anti-theft efforts, NNPC has contracted businesses—some of which are owned by former militants—and Kyari has stated that the country’s anti-graft agency is monitoring the money and would bring charges against those responsible.
According to Kyari, Nigeria is constructing a “national reserve corporation” to commercially operate the pipelines and address challenges such as theft in a novel way.
The only thing we can do for the time being is to keep managing (oil transport) via trucks,” he added.
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