A recent report from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has highlighted that Nigeria experienced significant losses in crude oil amounting to 362.28 million barrels due to various factors such as measurement errors, sabotage, and production adjustments between 2014 and 2023.
This equates to a daily loss of approximately 992,547 barrels of crude oil over the span of ten years. The report, titled ‘Oil & Gas Industry Audit 2023,’ revealed that there was a total crude oil production deferment of 110.66 million barrels during the period under review.
The report indicated that these losses were a result of issues such as scheduled and unscheduled repairs, maintenance, pipeline breaks, leaks, and equipment performance problems. Nigeria, being an oil-producing nation, continues to face challenges in fully optimizing its oil and gas resources, exacerbated by the use of outdated and corroded pipelines for oil transportation.
The data breakdown from the report showed a consistent increase in crude oil losses, with the highest recorded loss being 101.05 million barrels in 2026. The report highlighted that in 2014, a loss of one million barrels was recorded, which escalated by 2,612 percent to 27.12 million barrels in 2015.
The report also emphasized the importance of government initiatives aimed at reducing crude oil losses, enhancing operational efficiency, and improving accountability in the sector. It recommended exploring public-private partnerships to implement advanced digital solutions for monetizing savings from crude losses and establishing a database to address petroleum product losses effectively.
In conclusion, the report stressed the necessity of ramping up production capacity through a forensic audit of wellheads and production platforms to optimize the country’s proven crude oil reserves.