Shell Says Crude Oil Theft Increased By 50% In 2017
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the parent company of Shell Company in Nigeria in its latest report has said oil theft from its pipeline networks in Nigeria increased by 50 percent.
This was revealed in a report released by the firm on Monday where it added that oil theft has now hit 9,000 barrels of oil a day (b/d) in 2017 on contrast to 6,000b/d in 2016.
However, Shell had a 16.7 percent increase in payments to the Federal Government for production entitlement, royalties, taxes and others in 2017 to $4.32 billion from $3.64 billion in 2016.
“Crude oil theft from Shell Petroleum and Development Company, SPDCJV’s pipeline network amounted to around 9,000 barrels of oil a day (b/d) in 2017, an increase from around 6,000 b/d in the previous year,” the report added.
“The increase in 2017 can in part be explained by the militant-induced shutdown of the Forcados export terminal in 2016, which reduced opportunities for third-party interference.
“This demonstrates that continued air and ground surveillance as well as the action by the government security forces remain necessary to prevent crude oil theft. Since 2012, SPDC has removed more than 950 illegal theft points.”
The company further noted that the number of its operational spills in the country increased from eight in 2016 to nine in 2017.
According to the report,“the volume of oil spilled in operational incidents decreased to 0.1 thousand tonnes compared to 0.3 thousand tonnes in 2016.
“The number of sabotage-related spills in 2017 increased to 62 from 48 in 2016. Theft and sabotage caused close to 90% of the number of spills of more than 100 kilograms from SPDC JV pipelines, with the balance being operational spills.
“In 2017, 92 sites were remediated and certified (out of 251 identified for this work), with 32 in Ogoniland. During 2017, 84 new sites requiring remediation were identified, of which eight are in Ogoniland. In total, there are 243 oil spill sites that require remediation.”
Furthermore, the firm paid $3.197 billion to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for production entitlement.
This is also as $765 million was paid to the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) as tax, $280 million to the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, as Royalties.
