Hot SourceEmmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) yesterday faulted a report titled, ‘N8.41tn oil theft drains economy, fuels investors’ doubts’ published on the front page of a national newspaper on Wednesday.
The report in question, it said, was based on a misinterpretation of crude loss statistics between 2021 and July 2025 which had been released by the NUPRC ‘in the spirit of transparency’ and in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
NUPRC had revealed on September 11, 2025 that daily crude oil losses had dropped to 9,600 barrels per day, the lowest since 2009, a statement by the commission‘s spokesperson, Eniola Akinkuotu, said.
The NUPRC said it was vindicated again when the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.23 per cent largely on the back of an increased oil output and two other sectors, an acknowledgement of the steady progress made by the industry to combat the menace of crude oil theft.
Against the foregoing, the report by the national newspaper, it said, was not only specious but lacked proper context.
“Firstly, crude oil losses have been on the downward trend due to collaborative efforts between the NUPRC, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the military, Operators and other relevant stakeholders.
“This collaboration through both kinetic and non-kinetic means, dropped oil theft from a staggering 102,900 in 2021 – when the Commission was established – to the current 9,600bopd representing over 90 per cent reduction in losses.
“Also, in the misleading report, an exchange rate of N1,500/$1 is used from 2021 to 2025 to increase the figures and sensationalise actual losses when in actual fact, Nigeria’s exchange rate was less than N430 on the official market and barely N600/$1 on average between 2021 (when most of the crude theft occurred) and in mid-2023.
“The N8.41 trillion is therefore inaccurate. Attempting to situate it within the current 2025 federal budget is flawed,” the commission stated.
Furthermore, the methodology adopted by the Newspaper, according to the NUPRC, is significantly flawed because it lacks in-depth understanding of operations, crude oil price trends and exchange rate mechanisms.
“Nigeria has continued to meet its OPEC quota due to the commission’s initiatives and working collaboratively with industry stakeholders to sustain and grow productions. Such initiatives include: the project 1 million barrels, implementation of the metering audit, restoration of shut-in strings and increased rig counts, facility uptime, creation of alternative crude evacuation mechanism etc.
“Furthermore, Nigeria now has the technical capacity to produce above 2 million barrels daily. The commission is galvanising industry stakeholders – operators, service providers (local and international), rig owners, off-takers, and financiers – in order to fully unlock the potential, riding on the improved operating environment and social inclusion in operating areas,” the commission said.
According to the NUPRC, the story also failed the integrity test as no attempt was made by the reporter of the newspaper to get a clarification from the commission in the spirit of fairness and balanced reporting.
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