Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, has said that the volume of oil theft in the Niger Delta had reduced from 100,000 barrels to 40,00 barrels per day.

Uduaghan, who disclosed this while fielding questions from State House correspondents after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that although the quantity of the stolen crude was still on the high side, with proactive measures by government, the menace would be checked.
Specifically, he said that if the culprits of oil theft were prosecuted and sanctioned accordingly and the right technology deployed for monitoring, the crime would drastically reduce.

“The volume of theft is reducing. As at yesterday I still heard somebody quoting 1.4 million barrels of oil being stolen. That is not true.  At the time it was at its peak, there was a shutdown of about 300 barrels of oil as a result of damage to two major pipelines.

“At that time, between 80,000 to 100,000 barrels were being stolen and that was the time we took some measures to ensure that the quantity being stolen was reduced. As at today, I can tell you that the quantity that is being stolen has reduced to about 40,000 barrels per day.

“Those pipelines that were shut down are now functioning, so the 300 to 320 barrels that were shut in as a result of damage to the pipelines have now been released. The stolen 40,000 barrels per day is still on the high side, but as we go further in putting measures in place, especially, the issue of prosecution, the quantity will gradually reduce and if possible, we can get it to a zero level.

“Apart from the prosecution, we are also looking at technology in monitoring, to be able to deal with oil theft,” he said.
Uduaghan also disclosed that the meeting with the President was to avert the planned warning strike by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA.

He said the President summoned the meeting to find a lasting solution to industrial strikes in the medical sector.
Uduaghan said that the President had conceded to certain conditions that would likely stop the proposed warning strike.
“There were issues that have been raised by the NMA for which members are threatening to go on warning strike that will last for five days. The President called a stakeholders’ meeting this afternoon to look at the issues again. We are now going for another meeting slated for 5.00 pm,” he added.