Theft: FG begins tracking crude oil vessels …Collaborates with EFCC

Theft: FG begins tracking crude oil vessels

.Collaborates with EFCC

By Udeme Clement &Joel ThankGod

The Federal Government is putting measures in place to  track Nigeria’s crude oil output and vessels lifting crude oil out of the country.

Government is working in synergy with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to track vessels lifting crude oil out of Nigeria, on order to check cases of theft in the system.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, while speaking at the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, NIPS.

The Minister further said that the Nigerian government has the capacity to monitor vessels operating in the country, even as he revealed that the monitoring process has already detected irregularities in movement of some of vessels lifting crude oil in the country.

He said, “For the first time, we know fully what we are producing in Nigeria and when it is being produced Also, We can see the vessels that are coming into the country and their activities.

“Infact, we are seeing some vessels going to a location to pick cargo, leaving that point to another location to pick something else and returning to the first point, when they should be moving to Port Novo or the United States”.

The Minister pointed out, “So, we are going to work with the EFCC to get the data and track such vessels, in order to ascertain why they leave one point to another allocation. Also to know what happens along the way, as the vessels are leaving Nigeria.

“The tracking exercise will be extended to the downstream sector, to determine the volume of imported Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, the quantity of products brought in by each ship, the depots, as well as the commodity stored up to the points of retail.”