Nigeria loses $5 billion annually to bunkering and illegal refining of oil in the Niger -delta region.

The managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mutiu Sunmonu, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while on a courtesy visit to the executive secretary of the Nigeria extractive industry transparency initiative (NEITI), Zainab Ahmed.

Mr Sunmonu said vandalism constitutes a serious problem to the oil giant’s operation in the country and called on all investors to forge a strong synergy to deal with the challenge.“Our greatest challenge is about criminal activities where people steal crude oil every day. Nigeria is losing at least $5bn every year as a result of criminals stealing our crude and exporting our crude illegally”, he said, adding that “people stealing crude and refining it illegally; that is what I believe we need to worry about.”

He reiterated the company’s commitment to maintaining social responsibility to its host community and improving its general operations in the country.

He also noted that Shell has developed a scheme that will provide funds for communities to finance projects that will enhance their standard of living, rather than just provide facilities that the community might not need.

Sunmonu, who commended NEITI for its efforts at ensuring transparency in the oil sector, also called on it to join the fight against oil theft in order to boost government’s revenue.

Ms Ahmed expressed optimism that the visit by Shell will improve the process of auditing and reconciling accounts of the oil companies in the country, noting that “over the years, there has been a missing gap in NEITI’s engagement with the companies in Nigeria, resulting in fear, distrust, information gap and resistance to comply with NEITI audit requirements.

“I hope that by your visit today, a new chapter has been opened in the relations between NEITI and companies in general, and Shell in particular” she said.