Nigeria government intensifies fight against oil theft, targets 1.9m bpd

Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence, in an interview Sunday with NAN say substantial progress has been made in the Federal Government’s campaign against oil theft.

He boasted that practical achievements in curbing oil theft in the Niger Delta region have been realised saying there is optimism that the country can reach a daily crude oil production of 1.9 million barrels by December 2023.

“Before now, due to oil theft activities in the Niger Delta region, oil production dropped to about one million barrels per day.

“But with the Federal Government’s actions and the onslaught of the combined military against oil thieves, the production stands at 1.7 million barrels per day currently.

“We are hoping that at the end of this year, we will reach about 1.9 million barrels per day,” he said.

He revealed that measures had been put together at the Naval headquarters to detect and know all that was happening in the stream and all maritime areas.

“We are taking serious action. Operations have been conducted in that area. Most of the illegal panels were destroyed, most of the people were arrested, and, with the level we are at today, we are okay,” Matawalle said.

Matawalle explained that President Bola Tinubu’s administration made substantial investments in state-of-the-art weaponry, ensuring the military is well-prepared to combat various crimes, including banditry and oil theft.

“I just returned from a trip to Turkey and you need to see the attack helicopters that we acquired.

“In fact, some of them are in Lagos now and it’s very special. And, as I said, this is not just for the Army alone, the Navy has its own, as well as the Air Force.