The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has launched an app that would enable it to do real-time tracking of Nigeria’s stolen crude oil in both local and international markets.
The app called ‘Crude Theft Monitoring Applications’ was created for members of host communities and other Nigerians to report incidents of oil theft.
NNPC said it has intensified efforts with its international partners to track Nigeria’s stolen crude, using its “unique registration.”
Whistleblowers will also be rewarded, NNPC added.
During the launch of the app, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari disclosed that Nigeria lost a whopping USD 4 billion to oil theft at the rate of 200,000 barrels per day in 2021, while admitting that pipeline vandalism in the country has become too difficult to control.
Mele Kyari said, “We have created a functional control center that sees everything we are doing here. A few things are left, but we have upgraded it to a level that every camera in every location by any producer in this country is visible to us.”
“This collaboration has helped us; when we see wrong movements of persons, we report to the Nigerian Navy and they have always responded, leading to several arrests. We are also following the cash. The EFCC is following everyone that is related to these transactions, whether within our companies, government security agencies, or wherever,” Mele Kyari added.
“Wherever there is a massive movement of cash, the EFCC will follow you. And this is also kicking in immediately. We believe that the combination of all these will get us back to normalcy and then people will either see reasons not to continue doing this, or they will pay the price for it,” he said.
In July, Nigeria changed its oil firm from a solely state-run entity to a commercial oil company.
Nigeria has been seeking to cash in on rising energy prices as Europe tries to wean itself off Russia’s energy supply following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Authorities have revived decades-old “Trans Saharan” pipeline projects from Nigeria to Algeria and also from Nigeria to Morocco. Both projects are targeting European energy markets.
Authorities say the government’s oil and gas revenue target this year is now threatened by a production shortfall of 28 million barrels caused by oil theft between January and July.