Updated: Economic Sabotage – How NNPCL intercepts vessel laden with 800,000-litre stolen oil offshore in Delta

*The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has explained how its operatives arrested a vessel laden with stolen crude offshore, reportedly belonging to Holab Maritime Services Limited, an indigenous oil firm, offshore in Delta State, and decided to destroy such ‘vessels involved in transporting stolen crude oil’ as a strong deterrent in the oil and gas sector of the country’s economy

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Monday, July 10, 2023, said the West African country’s  oil firm had intercepted an 800,000-litre vessel carrying stolen crude offshore.

ConsumerConnect learnt the Company stated the vessel heading for neighbouring Cameroon would be destroyed as a deterrent to oil theft in Nigeria.

Intercepted vessel with stolen crude

Crude theft from pipelines and wells in the Niger Delta region of the country has hobbled Nigeria’s output in recent years.

The menace is considered as one of the biggest challenges to confront the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Crude stolen from Ondo State, South-West region

The state oil firm also noted that the oil was stolen from a well in Ondo State, South-West of Nigeria.

The MT Tura II vessel was owned by locally registered Holab Maritime Services Limited, and had no valid documentation for the oil, according to NNPCL.

However, a phone to Holab for comment on the development via the numbers listed on its corporate Web site could not get through, agency report said.

Federal Government destroys arrested vessel 

NNPCL said: “Destroying vessels involved in transporting stolen crude oil is of paramount importance as a strong deterrent.”

ConsumerConnect reports the affected vessel with stolen Nigerian crude oil, said to belong to a Nigerian registered company was set ablaze in the state Tuesday, July 11, 2023.

Explaining the circumstance leading to the development, Captain Warred Enisuoh, Executive Director of Operations and Technical at Tantita Security, and Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, Commander of the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, disclosed the oil cargo was illegally sourced from a well-jacketed offshore in Ondo State with no valid documentation at the time of the arrest, according to report.

NNPC circulated a video showing the vessel surrounded by armed Nigerian security agents before setting it ablaze, report said.

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