In a recent move to thwart illegal oil refining, the Defense ministry of Nigeria through a three month operation where close to 900 illegal refineries were shut down in the Niger- Delta River Delta state.
Nigeria’s armed forces have successfully culminated a three- month operation in the Niger – River Delta in a significant shutdown to illegal oil refining activities and theft operations.
As per the nation’s Defenses Ministry spokesperson, Major General Edward Buba , the operation has resulted in the detection and destruction of over 895 illegal refineries with close to 450 individuals involved in the crude oil theft business being arrested.
As per sources, the military operation resulted in the confiscation of 12 million litres of crude oil and 2.6 million litres of self produced Diesel with over 100 vehicles used in the transportation of the product destroyed.
It should be noted that this illegal crude oil is sold in the black market in Nigeria and sometimes exported to neighbouring countries hindering the government from getting substantial revenue and determining the exact consumption of Nigeria.
In decades, the Nigerian National petroleum corporation, NNPC has often reported most of its production being lost to theft.
This latest development comes on the backdrop of the debut of production by Dangote refineries which according to its CEO and founder, Aliko Dangote would ease the pressure on the naira, bring down inflation and track the country’s exact consumption over time.
