The Nigerian Navy has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), formerly Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), of providing false information about crude oil theft in the country.

The Punch got Rear Admiral Solomon Agada on record at a brief with the Senate Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes at the National Assembly on Thursday.

Agada, the Navy Chief of Training and Operations, told the Senate committee that the navy had explained the causes of fuel scarcity to NNPC but the corporation continued to reel out bogus information.

Aguda also said that it was not possible to steal 100,000 barrels of oil daily on Nigerian waters.

“The oil theft issue has been a very worrisome one to every Nigerian and more importantly, it has negatively impacted our economy. How come the Navy hasn’t been able to solve the issue of oil theft and if the Navy is claiming that the waterways are secured, why are there still cases of oil theft?” Suleiman Kwari, chairman of the Senate committee, asked Agada.

“The challenge is that because of the criminal activity inshore by the illegal refiners in tapping into the export lines, those export lines have not been in operation since early this year,” Agada responded.

“The major terminals have not been able to process fuel for export since around February/March and instead of the NNPC telling the Federal Government that this product is not brought out to be able to process as export, they say the oil was stolen.”

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Agada also said that the navy wanted the NNPC to reveal the difference between crude oil that has not been brought out and crude oil that has been stolen.

According to Agada, the NNPC had shut in some volumes of crude oil but reported that most of it was being stolen.

“The stolen produce that we have been dealing with among illegal refineries is nothing compared to what the NNPC is declaring as being stolen,” Agada explained.

“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.

“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.

“Let’s get someone who can do proper analysis of these figures and we’ll find out that these claims are just bogus; there is nothing substantive about them. We have communicated appropriately with the NNPC. Even at our last interface with them, they agreed with us,but when they come to the public, they say oil theft, hiding the fact from the public.”

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Agada also said that the hike in diesel price was due to a decrease in supply of diesel after the navy halted illegal bunkering in April.

The naval chief claimed that some marketers who had been patronising illegal bunkering were now unable to do so.

“People who have been doing this illegal business will confirm to you that since we started this special task force operation in April, their business has gone sour,” he said.

“This is also responsible for the increase in diesel price in the country. Since we stopped the illegal diesel from coming to the market, the price has gone up, because once there is high demand and the supply is low, the price will go up.

“People who ought to import will cut corners and buy the illegal products, but now that they can’t import and the illegal ones are not coming, this has reduced the quantity in the country. But somehow, nobody is coming to share this information with the people.”

FIJ