By Dianabasi Effiong
The Democratic Front (TDF) has welcomed the reduction in crude oil theft from 108,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2022 to 5,000 bpd in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad, TDF said the feat, announced by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as a fallout of reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration to boost Nigeria’s daily crude production, was monumental.
“We acclaim the huge success of the oil sector reform of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, which has resulted in a reduction of daily crude oil theft from 108,000 bpd in the first quarter of 2022 to 5,000 bpd according to data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
“This awe-inspiring success is monumental in the history of the oil sector given the devastating drain the criminal act of crude oil theft has constituted on the nation’s oil revenue and resources in the last two decades.
“We at the Democratic Front were indeed despondent and worried, when an independent oil and gas industry report by Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), indicated that 7.68 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil were stolen in 2023 alone. More frustrating was the revelation in that report that the 2023 figure actually represented a 79% decline from the 36.69 million barrels of crude oil stolen in 2022.
“The steady decline in annual crude oil production in the country within the last two decades left Nigerians with the frustrating conclusion that the country was entrapped in an interminable circle of oil theft and racketeering by the very group of elites that are entrusted with the fiducial responsibility of superintending over the nation’s crude oil production,” TDF stated.
According to the group, the persistent theft of crude kept Nigeria’s production output at a low level for almost 10 years from 2014 to 2023, forcing the economy into recession.
It stated, “However, the success recorded by the Tinubu administration in stopping the menace of crude oil theft has brought a new lease of life and a renewed hope for optimum productivity to the oil sector.
“The information released by the NUPRC on the drastic reduction in the stealing of the country’s crude oil is a testimony of the success of President Tinubu’s reform and the concerted efforts to restore a trend of higher daily crude oil production which today stands at 1.7million bpd from 798,542 bpd in May 2023.”
TDF also urged Nigerians to sustain their collective faith in the leadership of President Tinubu.