A The new monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries showed a drop in Nigeria’s crude oil production in December 2021, resulting in a loss of around N74.51 billion in oil revenue.

According to OPEC data, Nigeria produced an average of 1.19 million barrels per day in December, compared to 1.26 million bpd in November, based on direct communication.

This means that an average daily loss of 78,000 barrels was recorded in December, which translates to a total loss of 2.42 million barrels during the month.

In December, the average price of Brent crude, the international benchmark against which Nigerian oil is priced, was $74.17 a barrel, according to figures from countryeconomy.com.

At the official exchange rate of 415.45 naira to the dollar, this implies that the loss of 2.418 million barrels of crude oil in December reduced the country’s revenue by around 74.51 billion naira.

Further analysis of the latest OPEC report indicated that in the first quarter of 2021, Nigeria’s oil production averaged 1.312 million bpd.

This averaged 1.34 million bpd in the second quarter, but the momentum could not be sustained as the country’s crude oil production fell to 1.27 million bpd in the third quarter.

OPEC said the fall in oil production in the West African country continued into the fourth quarter of last year, falling to an average of 1.233 million barrels per day in the last quarter. .

Apart from the threat of pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta, the continued fall in oil production in the last quarter of 2021 may not be unrelated to the oil spill recorded in Santa Barbara, Nembe, Bayelsa State.

In November, the federal government announced it was investigating the cause of the Santa Barbara oil spill that occurred at a facility operated by Aiteo.

The government had disclosed this through its Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

Before the leak was sealed, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company had previously announced that a high-pressure spill prevented its personnel from plugging the wellhead leak around the OML 29 South oilfield.

The affected facility released large volumes of crude into the marine environment for several weeks after the November 5, 2021 spill. Aiteo reported five days later that the scale of the incident was “of an extremely high order”. .

Nigeria’s crude oil revenue losses have persisted due to various challenges in the sector despite efforts to limit them by the government and its agencies.

On December 27, for example, The PUNCH exclusively reported that Nigeria lost crude oil worth around 556 billion naira between August and October last year due to pipeline vandalism, interference communities and the sabotage of oil installations, among others.

Data compiled from NNPC’s Crude Oil Marketing Division’s report on events that affected oil production in August, September and October indicated that the country consistently recorded losses during the reporting period. .

The report had shown that the value of gross volumes lost by the country in August, September and October were N194.71 billion, N195.246 billion and N166.05 billion respectively.

This implies that the value of crude oil lost by Nigeria during the three-month period was around N556 billion.

To reduce the threat, stakeholders have called for the deployment of the latest technologies to secure oil infrastructure.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said, “The government should deploy automated pipelines along with the latest technology to safeguard petroleum assets.”

For his part, the former President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr. Sam Nzekwe, said, “We cannot lose such huge sums. The government should explore other forms of technology to manage this problem.

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