Senate Probes $300bn Crude Oil Losses, Demands Urgent Reforms

By Afolabi Nelson

The Senate has raised alarm over crude oil losses estimated at over $300 billion, allegedly caused by years of theft, collusion, and weak oversight in the Niger Delta region.

This revelation came from the interim report of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft, chaired by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North). The report, titled “Interim Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Incessant and Nefarious Acts of Crude Oil Theft in the Niger Delta and the Actors,” highlighted widespread failures in monitoring and regulation within the oil and gas sector, calling for urgent reforms.

According to Nwoko, the committee discovered irregularities, poor measurement standards, and lax enforcement across the petroleum value chain, which have turned crude oil theft into a multi-billion-dollar racket. He said the committee recommended strict enforcement of international crude measurement standards at production and export sites, as well as the deployment of modern surveillance tools such as drones to monitor pipelines and export routes.

The report also urged the Federal Government to strengthen maritime security through a dedicated trust fund, establish special courts for quick prosecution of oil theft cases, fully implement the Host Communities Development Trust Fund under the Petroleum Industry Act, and transfer abandoned wells to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission for proper management.

During the Senate debate, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) commended the committee’s work but cautioned that recovering stolen funds lies beyond the Senate’s powers. He noted that such recovery efforts should be handled by agencies like the EFCC and ICPC, urging the committee instead to provide specific figures, company names, and locations involved in the losses.