A total of 7,193,520 barrels of crude oil was lost in July this year due to about 39 production shut-in incidents, latest figures released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation showed.
An analysis of the September 2021 presentation of the NNPC to the Federation Account Allocation Committee showed that oil firms could not deliver the over 7.19 million barrels of crude oil due to workers’ protests, industrial action, among others.
In July 2021, the average cost of Brent, the oil against which Nigeria’s crude is priced, was about $75 per barrel, according to figures obtained from global statistical firm, Statistica.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s official exchange rate of the United States dollar was put at N410.83; therefore, by losing 7,193,520 barrels in July, the country lost about N221.64bn in the review month.
This came at a time when the country’s debts had been increasing, with the Federal Government sourcing for funds by borrowing several billions of dollars.
Further analysis of the corporation’s latest industry data by our correspondent on Wednesday showed that community workers’ protest, fire incidents, industrial action, among others, led to the production shut-in incidents at various oil wells in July 2021.
Some of the facilities operated by Seplat, Addax, Aiteo, Waltersmith, Energia, Nigeria Agip Oil Company, among others, were affected by the oil production shut-in incidents.
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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and NNPC had repeatedly stated that the government was interfacing with communities in the oil region on why it was necessary to halt acts that often resulted in crude oil losses.
“NNPC in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders continuously strive to reduce and eventually eliminate this menace,” the corporation recently stated.
Meanwhile, in the September 2021 FAAC presentation, the NNPC stated that its overall crude oil lifting was 8.71 million barrels (export and domestic crude) in July 2021, indicating a 0.87 per cent increase relative to the 8.66 million barrels lifted in June 2021.
It said crude oil export revenue received in August 2021 amounted to $7.78m, which was equivalent to N2.98bn, as domestic gas receipts in the month was N5.69bn.
