Oil theft in Nigeria

Oil theft in Nigeria is considered to be the illegal appropriation of crude or refined oil products from the pipelines of multinational oil companies. Oil theft in Nigeria is facilitated by the pragmatic co-operation between security forces, militia organizations, the local population, and oil company employees who use a variety of methods to steal oil from the multinational oil corporations that are stationed within the country. Currently, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Equinor, Shell, and Agip are the five largest multinational oil companies present in Nigeria.[1] Due to the lack of federal oversight and a large network of corruption, oil theft is primarily cellular rather than hierarchical and requires frequent collaboration between a variety of random players depending on the level of oil theft being committed.[2]: 18  Each group maintains a specific role in the oil theft trade in Nigeria. These key players use methods such as hot-tapping and cold-tapping to perform oil bunkering and steal thousands of barrels of oil per day from established oil pipelines.[3][4] In addition to stealing oil from the pipelines, oil theft can also occur during the transportation of the crude oil product to the oil shipping terminals for export.

Muhammadu Buhari's administration’s attempt to reduce corruption within the government through the targeting of suspected facilitators of oil theft has led to an increase in violence within the country. For example, the creation of the Niger Delta Avengers militant organization occurred after Buhari prosecuted the leader of a local militia group, Government Ekpemupolo, for his role in the practice of oil theft in the Niger Delta region.[5] Consequently, Ekpemupolo and the Niger Delta Avengers have proceeded to sabotage multinational oil corporation pipelines. In addition to the violence associated with the Niger Delta Avengers, oil spilled from these sabotage operations and the illegal refinery practices committed by the local population have led to the severe pollution of the environment.[4] Given that almost 83 percent of total exports revenue come from the petroleum products revenue in Nigeria, the political and military elite have sought ways to consolidate their control of the oil trade.[6] This monopoly over the oil trade has prompted many local villagers to commit small-scale oil theft and to pursue the illegal refinery of stolen crude oil as means of entering into this unofficial economy.[7]

  1. ^ Ibenegbu, George (2018-11-21). "Top 10 List of oil and gas companies in Nigeria". Legit.ng - Nigeria news. Archived from the original on 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  2. ^ Ralby, Ian (January 2017). "Downstream Oil Theft: Global Modalities, Trends, and Remedies" (PDF). Atlantic Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-08. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  3. ^ Fellows, University of Houston Energy. "The Murky Underworld of Oil Theft and Diversion". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  4. ^ a b "A Primer on Nigeria's Oil Bunkering". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  5. ^ Warami, Urowayino (2017-12-16). "Underground for 2 yrs, Tompolo still looms large in Ijaw nation". Vanguard News. Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Emizet, Kisangani (April 1998). "Confronting Leaders at the Apex of the State: The Growth of the Unofficial Economy in Congo". African Studies Review. 41 (1): 100. doi:10.2307/524683. JSTOR 524683. S2CID 145797699.