Nigeria lost 362.28 million barrels of crude oil between 2014 and 2023 due to sabotage, measurement errors, and production adjustments, according to a new report from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). This amounts to an average daily loss of 992,547 barrels over the ten-year period.
The NEITI report, titled “Oil & Gas Industry Audit 2023,” revealed that production deferment during the review period reached 110.66 million barrels. These losses were largely attributed to outdated pipelines and inadequate infrastructure.
A breakdown of the losses showed that the highest occurred in 2016, with 101.6 million barrels lost, leading to a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall. Losses varied across the years, peaking in 2016 and decreasing by 2023, when Nigeria recorded a significant reduction to 7.68 million barrels, a 79% drop from the 36.69 million barrels lost in 2022.
The report recommended that the Nigerian government consider public-private partnerships to implement digital solutions aimed at preventing future losses. Additionally, NEITI advised the creation of a special fund and database to monitor and address crude oil losses more effectively.
The decline in losses in recent years signals progress in governmental efforts to improve the oil and gas sector’s operational efficiency and accountability. However, NEITI emphasized the need for a forensic audit of wellheads and production platforms to boost production and prevent future losses.
