Nigeria has launched a campaign to destroy illegal oil refineries in a bid to crackdown on oil thieves which hampered the country’s production and export potential.
So far, Nigerian authorities destroyed 165 illegal refineries, following acts of theft and vandalism that surged in recent days, local media reported
The operation was backed by the Nigerian army in the Niger delta where thieves are often armed and act in organized gangs.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer with an average 1.8 million barrels daily. But attacks by armed groups and theft forced many firms like Shell and Exxon to sell their assets.
Theft cost the country 620 million barrels of crude, worth some $46 billion, between 2009 and 2020, DW said in a recent report, citing the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an organization that promotes accountability in the management of the nation’s oil, gas and mining revenue.