Country loses estimated N995.2bn annually A new report on the age-long crude oil theft in Nigeria has revealed how International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the Niger Delta region steal and siphon large volumes of crude oil from the country undetected by her authorities. The report revealed the revenue losses over the last few years, and estimated that the country lost N995.2 billion annually to oil theft. According to the report, various strategies used include small-scale pipeline tapping, bunkering and over lifting. While all three types of theft are not mutually exclusive, they each have different sources, actors, markets, and revenue streams. Although the report carried out by Nigeria Natural Resources Charter (NNRC) did not quantify how much oil IOCs often steal from the country, it, however, explained that when they do, they always resort to a high-wired network of onshore and offshore operators, sellers, financiers, as well as logistics […]