According to figures from different reports obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, 116.46 million gallons of petroleum worth N18.88 billion were stolen in 2021.
According to findings in many NNPC reports on Product Pipeline Performance for PMS, massive volumes of petrol imported into Nigeria by the national oil corporation did not reach their designated destinations between January 2021 and December last year.
The Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Atlas Cove-Idimu-Satellite pipelines, as well as the Mosimi-Ibadan, Ibadan-Ilorin, and Port Harcourt-Aba pipelines, were all destroyed in some way.
In January 2021, 6.371 million litres of fuel were lost throughout three pipeline segments, except the Port Harcourt-Aba length, which did not have any pumping activities.
According to NNPC, the sole importer of the commodity, the ex-depot price of petrol was N143.17/litre. This means that the total value of petrol taken in January 2021 was N943.92 million.
The oil company lost 5.317 million litres, 5.722 million litres, and 7.366 million litres of fuel in February, March, and April 2021, valued at N787.88m, N855.28m, and N1.09bn, respectively.
NNPC lost 14.157 million litres, 10.585 million litres, and 9.329 million litres of fuel in May, June, and July 2021, respectively.
For May, June, and July, the figures were N2.1 billion, N1.57 billion, and N1.38 billion, respectively.
The losses continued in August when 8.583 million litres of PMS worth N1.27 billion were taken; in September, 13.92 million litres worth N2.06 billion were diverted; and in October, 14.075 million litres worth N3.31 billion were lost.
The volume of stolen petrol in November and December 2021 was 5.953 million litres and 15.085 million litres, respectively.
According to the NNPC, the value of petrol lost in November was N1.283 billion, while it was N2.24 billion in December.
A total of 116.46 million litres of petrol worth N18.88 billion were stolen during the 12 months, according to a calculation of the total quantities of PMS taken.
NNPC has been the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for about four years running. Other marketers of the commodity stopped importing petrol due to the hassles in obtaining foreign exchange for its import.