'Nigerian Crude Oil Stolen On An Industrial Scale'

[Shola Sholaz]

Oil theft in Nigeria is a huge criminal operation affecting companies and states around the world, but interest in tackling the problem is low, Chatham House said in a report Thursday.
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The new study from the London-based think tank, based on interviews with some 200 government, private sector and independent sources, said "Nigerian crude oil is being stolen on an industrial scale."
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Estimates on the scale of the problem vary, with some Nigerian officials saying 150,000 barrels per day is stolen, costing some $6 billion a year in lost revenue.
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Chatham House, which also reviewed thousands of documents, said the figure was almost certainly more than 100,000 barrels per day.
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Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, with output at around 2.0 million barrels per day.
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"Proceeds are laundered through world financial centres and used to buy assets in and outside Nigeria," according to the think-tank. Few fully grasp the problem and those affected have shown little desire to act, it added.
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"In Nigeria, politicians, military officers, militants, oil industry personnel, oil traders and communities profit," Chatham House said.
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For Nigeria, cracking down could inflame tensions among powerful figures, particularly in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region, where unrest declined after a 2009 amnesty deal with rebels, but where stability remains elusive.
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Despite rhetoric about the scourge of oil theft from Western governments and foreign oil majors, neither camp has fully attacked the problem, the report said.
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There is "very little incentive for foreign partners to act, including risk of a diplomatic rift and almost no leverage," in part because of Nigeria's low aid dependence.
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Global oil giants like Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron and ENI all operate in the Niger Delta, but it is "unclear how much export oil" these companies lose, Chatham House said.