Billionaire Tony Elumelu has tasked security agencies to expose those who steal the country’s crude oil, especially using vessels that move through the territorial waters.
Elumelu said this in an interview published in the Financial Times on Friday.
Elumelu claimed that the threat was a factor in foreign oil corporations pulling out of Nigeria.
He added that once criminal gangs started stealing crude from his pipelines, he personally witnessed why major oil firms were partially withdrawing from their onshore holdings.
In 2022, when his company had to shut down production, Elumelu tweeted: “How can we be losing over 95 percent of oil production to thieves? Look at the Bonny Terminal, which should be receiving over 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily, instead, it receives less than 3,000 barrels, leading the operator Shell to declare force majeure.
“The reason Nigeria is unable to meet its OPEC production quota is not because of low investment but because of theft, pure and simple!
“Meanwhile, oil-producing countries are smiling as their foreign reserve is rising. What is Nigeria’s problem? We need to hold our leaders more accountable!”
Speaking with the Financial Times on Friday, Elumelu alleged oil thieves still take away 18 percent of crude from his field.
“42,000 barrels of crude pumped out daily. Theft still takes away about 18 percent of production,” he stated.
Asked who is behind the theft, he replied: “This is oil theft, we’re not talking about stealing a bottle of Coke you can put in your pocket. The government should know, they should tell us.
“Look at America — Donald Trump was shot at and quickly they knew the background of who shot him. Our security agencies should tell us who is stealing our oil. You bring vessels to our territorial waters and we don’t know?”