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| Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu |
The
Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria
Limited, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, has said that the country is losing $5bn
(N780bn) annually to oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Speaking in Abuja on
Wednesday during a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary, Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Ms. Zainab Ahmed, Sunmonu
said, “Our greatest challenge is about criminal activities where people
steal crude oil every day. Nigeria is losing at least $5bn every year
as a result of criminals stealing our crude and exporting our crude
illegally.
“People stealing crude and refining it illegally; that is what I believe we need to worry about.”
The SPDC boss said
vandalism constituted a serious problem to the company’s operations in
the country and called on all stakeholders to forge a strong synergy to
deal with the challenge.
Sunmonu, who commended
NEITI for its efforts at ensuring transparency in the oil sector, also
called on it to join the fight against oil theft in order to boost
government’s revenue.
He said, “I really want
to seize this opportunity to encourage NEITI to also lend a voice to
stopping this menace of crude oil theft; it is something, which I really
worry about.
“It is one thing that
gives me sleepless nights because if you don’t stop this, I can
guarantee you that the revenue from oil business to the government, in
particular, will continue to dwindle. So, that should be our area of
focus.”
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