The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has lamented that his company, Heirs Oil and Gas, loses 50,000 barrels of crude oil to thieves daily.
Elumelu lamented in Abuja on Tuesday during his lecture to members of Course 30 of the National Defence College on the theme, Strategic Leadership: My Business Experience.
According to him, the oil theft in the Niger Delta has been a national issue for those looking to invest in the oil and gas sector.
He said, “We produce sometimes about 87,000 barrels per day, thieves take 50,000 per day and to me, this requires a national seminar or dialogue.
“In my view, it is one of the highest levels of threat to our country because it’s so much money in the hands of people who don’t pay tax, people we don’t regulate, the country is not safe. They do that to us; they do that to other operators also”.
It was also stated that the country had lost over $4bn to oil thieves in the last three quarters of 2021.
The Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abubakar, had reported in July last year at a town hall meeting on protecting oil and gas infrastructure, organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture, in Abuja, said that statistics had supported Nigeria as the most notorious nation in the world for oil theft.
Elemelu called for strategic leadership in dealing with this national challenge.
He added, “We look forward to men and women in this room who will help remove this national disgrace and problems that we face”.
He further disclosed that United Bank for Africa had been granted a licence to operate a bank in Dubai.
Copyright PUNCH.
