Page 13 - AfrOil Week 21 2020
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NIGERIA
THE Nigerian Navy revealed last week that it haddestroyednolessthan2,287illegaloilrefin- eries within the last five years.
Rear Admiral Ifeola Mohammed, the navy’s chief of policy and planning, told reporters on May 22 that efforts to shut down unauthorised oil-processing operations had gained momen- tum in 2017, following the launch of Operation River Swamp.
Since the start of this operation, he said, naval forces have impounded more than 9.4mn bar- rels of stolen crude oil, along with more than 3.4mn litres of dual-purpose kerosene (DPK) and 296,000 litres of gasoline, known locally as premium motor spirit (PMS).
He also noted that the volumes of stolen crude and illicitly produced fuel recovered by naval forces had gone up since 2017. “In 2017, the Nigerian Navy denied criminal oil entrepre- neurs dealing on illegal oil about 218,057 barrels of crude oil valued at about NGN3,724,413,560 [$9.54mn] and 60,553,415 litres of AGO [automotive gasoil, or diesel] valued at NGN11,807,915,925 [$30.2mn],” he said. “Simi- larly, in 2018, illegal oil dealings of about 295,028 barrels of crude oil valued at NGN5,039,078,240 [$12.9mn] and 23,991,325 litres of AGO valued
at NGN4,678,308,375 [$11.98mn] were denied [to]thecriminaloilentrepreneurs.”
In 2019, he added, the navy seized 296,192 barrels of crude oil worth more than NGN5bn ($12.8mn), as well as more than NGN8.3bn ($21.25mn) worth of diesel.
Crude oil theft, unauthorised refining and petroleum product smuggling are all wide- spread in the Niger River Delta region. Nigeria’s government has used the army as well as the navy to support its efforts to curb such activities.
NNPC refining losses
In related news, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) has revealed that its refining unit posted losses of NGN18.96bn during the first two months of the year.
According to the Punch newspaper, the state- run company’s four refineries lost NGN9.6bn in January and NGN9.36bn in February.
As of press time, NNPC had not yet pub- lished any data on its refineries’ financial per- formance in subsequent months. Presumably, though, the losses have continued, in line with the decline in global energy demand that has fol- lowed the spread of the coronavirus (COVID- 19) pandemic.
Unofficial gasoline “tends to be of better [quality] than the official supplies, which is in line with consumer preferences,” he said. It is “viewed to be the most reliable by consumers, and producers of this fuel also boast that they can produce very good quality gasoline in com- parison to other fuels.”
The quality of the official kerosene is much
better than illegal supplies, Sewell said. But it is in short supply and demand is high, and so the market tolerates the lower quality.
“Unofficial fuel is often blamed for air pol- lution in Port Harcourt, but that is not the full story,” Laing said. “This conveniently defers responsibility on to those working in the arti- sanal oil industry.”
Nigerian Navy reports on destruction of illegal refineries
Unauthorised refining is widespread in the Niger River Delta region (Photo: Premium Times)
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