The theft of Nigeria’s crude oil fell by a whopping 58.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, amid the federal government’s reinforcement of initiatives geared towards ending the menace in the country’s Niger Delta.
Data gleaned from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) during a presentation to the Investment Monitoring Committee of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Abuja, showed that whereas the theft figure was 12,000 barrels per day in the last 24 months, in Q1, the number fell to 5,000 bpd.
It further confirmed that oil theft averaged 108,000 bpd in Q1, 2022 resulting in the shutdown of a number of trunk lines, and serious disruption to crude production and export.
Before now, Nigeria’s oil theft and sabotage challenges in the Niger Delta had reached alarming levels, severely undermining the country’s oil production and economic stability.
For years, illegal bunkering, pipeline vandalism, and unauthorised tapping of crude oil pipelines were rampant across the region. These activities were often carried out by well-organised syndicates with access to advanced equipment and insider information.
