House Committee seeks missing $20bn crude oil from DPR

Chinazor Megbolu. |.

The House Ad-hoc Committee on Oil Theft of the House of Representatives is seeking the whereabout of missing $20 billion worth of crude oil from Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) between 2005 and 2012.

The Committee noted on Wednesday that the oil and gas industry regulator could not account for the crude valued at over $20 billion.

The Chairman, Mr. Peter Akpatason, during an investigative hearing set up by the panel disclosed the DPR would have to account for the whereabout of the “missing crude oil.”

“The effects of crude oil theft cannot be over emphasised, and this has lasted for too long. As patriots, it is our collective responsibility to see to the end of this stealing.

“The Adhoc Committee has identified the key role DPR has as the agency of government

in the sector, hence your re-invitation today to enable us work together and come up with a common front on ways to tackle this matter; if not completely put to an end to it, reduce it to its barest minimum.

“DPR is the agency of government saddled with the responsibility of monitoring crude oil production and lifting. The Committee requested and obtained schedules of crude oil produced and lifting between 2005 to 2019,” he said.

Report from forensic analysis, he said showed a very wide margin between what was reported produced and what was lifted.

The committee further claimed that DPR between 2005 and 2012, declared production of 1,746,621,167 barrels from four sampled oil terminals of Egeravos, Bonny, Forcados and Bonga.

“Out of this production volumes, only 1,417,200,848 barrels were accounted for as having been lifted officially. A whopping volume of 329,420,319 barrels, valued at over $20 billion, could not be accounted for.

“The same trend of infractions was observed in the years 2016-2019.

“The committee through the analysis of submissions to it has raised issues requiring clarifications from DPR.

“These issues range from unprocessed crude oil, suspected stolen/diverted crude oil, discrepancies in records, use of inappropriate devices and technologies for measurement and gauging despite huge bugetary provisions,” Apatason said.

Meanwhile, the Director/Chief Executive Officer, DPR, Mr. Sarki Auwalu, in his remarks to the accusation, hinted that most of the crude oil thefts usually occur from land terminals.

According to him; “I will like to use this opportunity to give a brief on how we will account for hydrocarbon in this nation. I think that will provide a better view for this committee as well as Nigerians.

“The process starts well because every crude oil comes from well, and you cannot drill a well without knowing the capacity of that well to produce.

“Most of the thefts, they are coming from land terminals because the land producers have to use pipelines to transport the crude into the terminals for export.

” In the process, you have a lot of third party interference in which those points of theft were there; small volumes that account for the larger volume are being taken and they are being stolen”, he declared.