Millionaire businessman Tony Elumelu said Nigeria will be unable to reach the oil output limit set by OPEC because of the country’s massive crude oil theft.
His viewpoint contrasted with that of Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva. Recall, that the minister blamed the country’s inability to reach its oil output limit on a lack of investment.
He bemoaned Nigeria’s recent instability, which had resulted in oil theft, preventing the country from fulfilling its oil output target.
“One morning, I am listening to my colleagues at the workplace; we discussed the extremely serious concerns that they confront every day in this nation. We spoke about how things have been getting worse, no electricity for five days. There has been spikes in diesel prices, alarming food inflation, and so on,” he remarked.
Read: Oil prices plummet below $100, Nigeria fails OPEC quota
“How can a country so wealthy in natural resources have 90% of its population living in poverty and hardship. I have frequently stated that access to electricity is important for our growth, poverty alleviation, and misery relief. And when it comes to security, our people are terrified!
“Businesses are struggling. How can we be losing over 95% of our oil output to swindlers? Consider the Bonny Terminal, which should receive over 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day but only receives fewer than 3,000 barrels, prompting the operator Shell to declare force majeure.”
He said “Why are we paying taxes if our security forces can’t stop this. It is evident that the reason Nigeria is unable to reach its OPEC output limit is not a lack of investment, but rather a theft, plain and simple!”
He stated that Nigeria is suffering, whilst other oil-producing countries are benefitting from the spike in global crude oil prices.
