NUPRC to begin crude oil tracking scheme, meter oil wells

Amidst rising figures of oil theft, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has started implementing a scheme to track crude oil export and has secured approvals to properly meter oil wells.

NNPC Ltd data indicate that Nigeria has lost over N623 billion to crude oil theft from January to April 2022.

• Ahead of APC primaries: Campaign, governance compete for attention
• Court remands man for stealing caps in Kano

The Commission Chief Executive (CCE) of NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, who stated this in Abuja, said the Advanced Cargo Declaration Regime (ACDR) scheme will curtail the export of stolen crude oil as there will be a unique identifier and proper documentation for every export-bound oil cargo.

He said: “This implies that any cargo that does not have the unique identifier was not legitimately exported from the country.”

On the approval to meter oil wells, Komolafe said: “The commission obtained necessary approvals to ensure the installation of metering equipment – Control of Lease Automatic Custody Transfer (LACT) units in the upstream petroleum industry using Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to avert potential manipulation of figures that could result in short-changing the federation of oil and gas revenue.”

He also said that based on the 2021 annual reports of 61 operating firms, Nigeria’s crude oil reserve slightly grew by 0.37 per cent to 37.046 billion barrels, while gas reserve rose by 1% to 208.62 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) as of January 2022.

He said: “Analysis of the report indicates that the nation’s oil and condensate reserves status as at 1st January 2022 was 37.046 billion barrels representing a slight increase of 0.37% compared to 36.910 billion barrels as at 1st January 2021.

“On the other hand, the national gas reserves status as of 1st January 2022 was 208.62TCF, representing an increase of 1.01% compared to 206.53 TCF,” noted Komolafe.

He said the commission was working to further increase the crude oil and gas reserves along with a target.

“With a proven gas reserve base of 208.62TCF (as at 1st January 2022), we are on track to increase our reserves volumes to 220TCF in less than 10 years and 250TCF thereafter,” said Komolafe.