Nigeria loses at least 700,000 barrels of crude oil to thieves daily, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said in Effurun, Delta State on Saturday.
He made the assertion at the 2002 graduation of students of the Petroleum Training Institute.
The minister who was represented by Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, said the Federal Government was making concerted efforts to curtail the menace.
He said crude oil theft had impacted negatively on the nation’s foreign exchange inflow.
“Oil theft has denied the country of an estimated 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The adverse effect of this is the drop in the production of crude oil and decline in the national income,’’ he said.
He said the petroleum ministry would synergise with the National Assembly to ensure that adequate attention was given to the amendment of the PTI Act.
Sylva said that the institute could achieve more if the PTI Act was amended to enable the institute to have access to more funding.
He said the ministry had given PTI mandates in different areas of research into the use of local materials in crude oil production, stoppage of gas flaring and the commercialisation of gas, among others.
The minister advised the institute to embrace contemporary ways and methods to deliver on its mandates following global rapid changes in technology.
Sylva also advised the institute to liaise with relevant parastatal agencies of government and local and international oil companies for the continued upgrade of relevant training curricula.
Sylva congratulated the graduates and assured them that there were opportunities in the oil and gas industry.
“The skills you acquired will be pivotal in actualising the ever-evolving goals in the oil and gas industry.
“I am saying this confidently because the world still relies largely on hydrocarbons,’’ he said.
