Marginal field operators lament menace of oil theft

Some marginal field operators on Friday urged the Federal Government to urgently address the problem of incessant crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos that incessant theft of crude oil had negative effects on their businesses.

The Chief Executive of Walter Smith, Mr Abdulrasaq Isa-Kutepa, said that theft of crude oil might wreck marginal field operations in the country if nothing urgent was done.

Isa-Kutepa said that his company lost 50 million dollars between January and November due to the shut-down of Tran Niger Pipeline (TNP) as a result of crude oil theft.

“Our production figures are being hampered by crude oil theft because we had production shut down of 120 days in 2012 due to this challenge.

“In 2013, we already lost 120 days and as I am talking to you, we are not producing due to the shutdown of TNP.

“We lost almost 50 million dollars this year to the persistent shutdown of TNP, ‘’ he said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Oil Mining Lease (OML) 90, Mrs Uju Ifejika, said that banks were also holding back funds to develop the marginal fields.

Ifejika said that this was also responsible for the poor performance of marginal fields operators.

“It is a thing of shame that out of the 24 fields that are marginal, only, six to seven are producing.

“No single marginal field awarded in 2007 is producing,’’ she said. (NAN)