According to monthly reports by Nigeria’s Upstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria has lost huge amounts of revenue as a result of massive oil theft between January and August this year.

Figures contained in the reports showed that 13.21 million barrels of crude oil with an estimated worth of N603.64bn between January and August this year, could not be accounted for, as vandalism and theft continues in the sector.

Total crude oil production (without condensates) in January was 43.35 million barrels, but this dropped to 35.22 million barrels in February, indicating a loss of 8.13 million barrels.

In March, production increased by 3.14 million barrels to close at 38.36 million barrels in the third month of 2022. This, however, was not sustained, as production dropped to 36.58 million barrels in April and the country lost 1.78 million barrels in the same month.

The losses continued in May after oil production crashed to 31.76 million barrels, representing a loss of 4.82 million barrels when compared to what was produced the preceding month.

It increased in June to 34.75 million barrels, representing an oil production gain of 2.99 million barrels, but that was short-lived, as output fell again in July to 33.6 million barrels, meaning the country lost 1.15 million barrels in July.

The oil production losses persisted in August, crashing further to 30.14 million barrels, representing a loss of 3.46 million barrels.

It was observed that the total losses stood at 19.34 million barrels, while what was gained was 6.13 million barrels, leaving a cumulative loss of 13.21 million barrels during the review period.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said its lost 470,000 BPD to crude oil theft, especially those perpetrated in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

The loss, it said, had hindered it from reaching its production quotas set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. This accrues to $700m lost monthly between March and September 2022.