According to Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production was 1.61 million barrels per day as of July 23.
Komolafe revealed this information during the two-day public/investigative hearing on oil theft/losses held by the House of Representatives Special Committee.
“As of July 23, 2024, Nigeria’s average daily production stands at 1.61mbpd,” he said.
This is coming barely two weeks after the commission announced that the average daily oil production for June was 1.25mbpd.
He admitted that the country is facing significant challenges regarding crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, mainly affecting terminals in the Niger Delta region such as at Bonny, Brass, and Forcados.
In September 2022, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) stated that it lost $700m every month to oil theft.
Also, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative added that Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels, valued at N16.3tn, to crude oil theft from 2005 to 2021. This announcement comes just two weeks after the commission reported that June’s average daily oil production was 1.25 million barrels per day.
He acknowledged that the country is grappling with severe issues related to crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, particularly impacting terminals in the Niger Delta, such as those at Bonny, Brass, and Forcados.
Accordingly, Komolafe said, “This has prompted the commission to employ end-to-end production monitoring and a mass balance methodology to accurately account for losses and differentiate them from operational losses.
“These interventions have significantly reduced theft, with zero incidents reported in July 2023”.