The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, (NUPRC), has set up a team of experts to carry out thorough auditing of the activities of operators in the upstream petroleum industry in the last two years, to ascertain the actual volume of crude oil stolen by vandals and saboteurs, against recent allegations by some industry operators, regarding the volume of crude stolen daily from their operations.
The panel is to carry out a forensic investigation to cover the technical and commercial operations of oil companies involved in the drilling and selling of crude oil.
The commission in a statement said it is not unaware of the tragedy of oil theft, which has been a plague on the industry and had last year, triggered an industry-wide initiative, aimed at curbing it, and increasing crude production levels; a development which followed an express presidential directive.
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While stepping up efforts to deal with the issue of oil theft, in collaboration with the military and other relevant agencies, the commission has mandated the newly constituted panel to investigate the claims regarding the volume of theft from the various oils fields, and establish the actual operational capacities of the operators; to find out if the volumes being touted are actual; and if so, what additional measures need to be put in place to effectively address the issue.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
