The Nigerian Navy has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited of mistruth with regard to the latter’s claim on the amount of crude oil theft daily.
Recall that NNPC has always put the figure of stolen crude oil at 100,000 barrels per day, a claim Navy Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Solomon Agada disputed when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes.
Agada said the figure was exaggerated saying, “The stolen produce that we have been dealing with among illegal refineries is nothing compared to what the NNPC is declaring as being stolen.
“If you’re talking about stealing 100,000 barrels a day, you need about five-tonne batches 20 times a day from the creek to the high sea, which is very unrealistic. I told them at the NNPC that if that were to be the case, even a blind man would observe that something was happening in Nigeria’s waters and we are there on patrol and not seeing this.”
He went on to attribute the shortfall on crude oil exportation to alleged inactivity of Shell platform and Chevron terminal.
His word, “The only reasonable explanation why the fuels are not coming out is because the Shell platform on Bonny Island is not exporting and the Chevron terminal in Escravos is also not exporting. All these things are very clear, but because it is easier to say these things are stolen, then they just come up with that.”
