The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday announced that Nigeria currently loses an average of 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily which should amount to about ₦151.79bn monthly.
Brent oil, which is the standard against which Nigeria’s crude is priced, on Wednesday sold for $66.75 per barrel, while the official exchange rate of the dollar stood at 379/$.
Simple computation of the above figures would show that the country was losing about ₦151.79bn in 30 days, going by the 200,000 barrels of crude oil being lost daily, as projected by the nation’s biggest oil company -NNPC.
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Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, made this revelation while speaking at a meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor.
The NNPC boss was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja by the corporation’s spokesperson, Kennie Obateru, as saying, ‘We have two sets of losses, one coming from our products and the other coming from crude oil.
‘In terms of crude losses, it is still going on. On average, we are losing 200,000 barrels of crude every day.’
On his part, Irabor promised to galvanize the military to provide maximum security for the nation’s oil and gas assets which is critical to the nation’s existence.
He said, ‘I am delighted that you made this effort, and I tell you that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will collaborate with you to protect NNPC’s assets.’
Irabor acknowledged the role of the oil and gas sector to the economy and stated that there was a need for collaboration between the NNPC and the Armed Forces to protect oil and gas facilities.
‘It is my intention to cooperate maximally with you and to give necessary instructions to all officers in the Armed Forces,’ he said.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK