Nigeria now losing 40,000 barrels of crude daily’‏

www.twitter.com/platform9ja


Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State on
Thursday said the Federal Government had
succeeded in bringing down the volume of crude
oil being lost to thieves in the country to about
40,000 barrels from 100,000 daily.
Uduaghan said this in an interview with State
House correspondents shortly after attending a
meeting inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the reduction was as a result of some
measures put in place by the government.
The governor expressed the belief that the figure
would soon be further reduced.
He said, “Let me emphasise that the volume of
crude oil theft is reducing. Again, I must explain
that at a time, oil theft was at its peak; there was
a shut-in of about 300,000 barrels of oil as a
result of damage to two major pipelines; and at
that time, between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels
were being stolen.
“That was the time we took some measures to
ensure that the quantity that is being stolen is
reduced.
“Today, I can tell you that the crude that is being
stolen is reduced to about 40,000 barrels per
day. Those two pipelines are now functioning. So,
the 300,000 that was shut in as a result of the
damage to the pipelines have now been
opened.”
Uduaghan added, “Stealing 40,000 barrels per
day is still on the high side, but as we go further
in putting a lot of measures in place, especially in
the area of prosecution, I believe that the
quantity that is being stolen will gradually
reduce, if possible, come to zero level.
“Apart from prosecution, we are also talking of
technology and monitoring to deal with oil theft.”
On the defection of some Peoples Democratic
Party governors to the All Progressives Congress,
Uduaghan said anything could happen in
politics.
He said, “In politics, any person can take any
position. So, you must be ready for anybody that
is ready to take any position. Just as people are
leaving the party, people are also coming to the
party.
“The thing is that as a party, there is no doubt
that we have challenges at the moment, and I
think the President is taking initiatives to
organise various meetings that will quickly deal
with these issues.”