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Sub-Saharan Africa

Nigeria Claims $4.7 billion Lost Due to Oil Attacks

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By experts and staff

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  • John Campbell
    Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies

Maikanti Baru, the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company stated on December 14 that the company’s subsidiary Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) lost 1.5 trillion naira (about $4.9 billion) from militant and criminal attacks on its oil production facilities to date in 2016. Baru went on to say that NPDC recorded fifty-nine separate security incidents that resulted in crude production being shut down or deferred.

Based on recent recent years budgets, $4.9 billion is about 10 percent of the total annual budget of the Nigerian government.

It is difficult to gauge the accuracy of Baru’s claim. Nevertheless, his statement is an indication of the magnitude of the losses of revenue from oil production suffered by the Nigerian state because of insurgent and criminal activity. These losses are especially acute during the current period of low oil prices.