State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) loses almost $150 million due to vandalism every two days, said the company’s Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya.

NNPC’s profit would have been higher if not for oil theft and vandalism, which impacted its capacity to make higher profits, he told Arise TV. The oil firm reported 674 billion nairas ($1.56 billion) profit for 2021. 

The country’s current crude output averages 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) against the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ quota of 1.8 million bpd.

Moreover, the West African nation was suffering from underproduction of 600,000 bpd.

Ajiya said that few oil-producing companies had declared force majeure and shut-ins due to rising oil theft and vandalism, adding this had led to deferred production and revenue for NNPC and the nation.

The CFO noted that tax revenues and royalties had declined significantly as the country could not monetise the production.

(Editing by seban.scaria@lseg.com )