The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has hit the bull’s eye in compelling Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to refund 2,081,678 barrels of crude oil said to have been fraudulently reallocated from June 2016 to July 2018 via discrepancy in metering.
Nigeria has reportedly lost millions of barrels of crude oil yearly resulting in loss of revenue. It was gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari, apparently piqued by the development and in tandem with his anti-corruption crusade had ordered a clean-up of the messy system with a clear instruction to the DPR to stop the crude oil theft and bring the perpetrators to book.
The DPR, having discovered crude oil metering discrepancies in Shell operations had in a letter (Ref.: DMR/CTO/COA/COM/V.5/230) dated December 14 2020 demanded that Shell refunds the over two million barrels of crude oil illegally reallocated between June 2016 and July, 2018.
The letter referenced: “Reallocation of Bonny Terminal gross Volume from June 2016 to July 2018 Based on Comparison of Metered Gross Between the Coriolis Meter and LACT Unit Installed on the NCTL.”
Shell confirmed the illegality and discrepancy in metering and in a letter dated February 8, agreed to comply with the DPR directive to refund the stolen crude.
The Shell letter addressed to the Director, DPR and referenced SPDC-COM-2021-00951 reads in part: “We note your directives as contained in the above-referenced letter and wish to confirm that the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) will implement the refund of the 2,081,678 barrels of crude oil from the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) injectors (SPDC, TEPNG, NDPR, and WSPOL) to the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) injectors (Aiteo, Belemaoil, Eroton and Newcross) over the period from end of January 2021 till November 2021 in accordance with Schedile 111 as contained in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) letter ref: DMR/CTO/COA/COM/V.5/230 dated 14th December 2020.”
The Shell letter was signed by Steve Okwuosah, Business Relations & JVC Excellence Manager.
It was learnt that both DPR and Shell had been going back and forth on the matter with Shell recommending further dialogue and engagement. This was said to have angered the management of DPR which, driven by patriotism, had insisted on nothing but refund by Shell, prompting the initial terms of further engagement recommended by Shell to be rejected by DPR.
