MD/CEO, Financial Derivatives Campany Ltd, Mr. Bismack Riwane, on Tuesday said transparency and accountability are the only ways of curbing oil theft and pipeline leakage to stop the damage it is doing to the Nigerian economy.
He said this on Channels television’s business programme, Business Morning.
He added that Nigeria loses about 400,000 barrels of oil per day and the financial impact is that the country is losing more than $11 billion a year which can be used to build two yearly.
“Every barrel of oil equals 350litres, so oil theft is not a hidden business and it cannot be done without connival from government officials, “he said. There’s official leakage and criminal leakage.
Mr Rewane said “if we don’t talk about it then we can’t deal with it as a country. “There has to be greater accountability and people have to be held responsible, national security issues should be at the fore front of the country’s plans”.
As regards Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), he said they have a counter claim on the government and so does Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), he directed that the finance minister has to improve the level of accountability and transparency in their dealings. To correct the situation he said that the government can guarantee international companies that will gain profit within five years, if they set up refineries in Nigeria.
He described the oil theft situation in Nigeria as a crisis that needs to be arrested and earnings should be invested in making the lives of people better.
He said there’s a need for the oil producing areas to be compensated.” We can’t avoid a downtime, the price of oil will go down within the next three years and there will be inequality between the rich and poor,” he concluded.
MD/CEO Derivates Campany LTD
