Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) CEO Gbenga Komolafe said measurement errors are responsible for around 40% of crude losses in the petroleum industry than theft.
 
He disclosed that the commission had conducted a forensic audit between January 2020 and November 2022 to decide the accurate volume of crude oil stolen during that period, Ripple Nigeria newspaper reported.

Komolafe said the commission intends to address the issue of metering errors by licensing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as agents to deploy and maintain metering facilities to guarantee transparency in hydrocarbon accounting.

He stated the NURPC’s records show that the menace of oil theft has negatively impacted the oil and gas sector for about two decades, resulting in substantial financial losses to the country.

In November 2022, Nigeria lost $2 billion to oil theft between January and August this year,  said the Bureau of Public Procurement, an ad-hoc committee set up to investigate oil theft.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com )