Despite the fact that Nigeria as a whole managed to increase and stabilize its crude oil production last year, crude oil theft on Shell’s pipeline network resulted in a 50-percent increase in oil losses, the oil major said in its 2017 sustainability report this week. Crude oil theft resulted in losses of around 9,000 bpd in 2017, more than the 6,000 bpd lost in 2016, but less than the rate of 25,000-bpd loss in 2015, Shell said. The number of sabotage-related spills in 2017 increased to 62 compared to 48 in 2016, but was less than the 94 sabotage-induced spills in 2015, Shell’s estimates showed. “The increase in 2017 can in part be explained by the militant-induced shutdown of the Forcados export terminal in 2016, which reduced opportunities for third party interference,” the Anglo-Dutch oil major noted. “This demonstrates that continued air and ground surveillance and action by government […]