NIGERIA. Abuja: Now that crude oil is sold at $100 per barrel, it means that $10 million is lost daily in Nigeria due to oil theft. The Managing Director, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Ltd, Mike Sangster, disclosed this during the Nigerian Oil and Gas, NOG, conference and exhibition in Abuja.
“With crude oil selling even at $100 per barrel, that means it’s $10 million per day, which has been lost and mainly to the country because, you know, NNPC have 60 per cent of most of the joint ventures, and we pay tax at 85 per cent,” Sangster said.
Sangster, who spoke on ‘The Future of Nigeria’s Energy Sector in the Petroleum Industry Act’, PIA, Era, pointed out that there should be a provision for the ‘Host Community Trust Fund’ to empower the locals to ensure a stable workforce across the industry.
“This would not put an immediate end to activities of crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals, which had transcended into organized crime and disrupted the operations of oil and gas companies,” Sangster said.
“That’s a tremendous loss for the country. So, I think it needs to be a priority to look beyond the host communities and how we can address the crude safety and eradicate it once and for all.”
Therefore, Sangster urged the government and industry stakeholders to find a lasting solution to vandalism to make Nigeria an investment destination for oil and gas companies.
The Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria / Mid-Africa Business Unit, Rick Kennedy, pleaded for the institutionalizing of the PIA, which would define a clear role for industry stakeholders from now on.
Kennedy said that locally produced oil and gas businesses had a crucial role in Nigeria’s energy transition journey.
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