Federal Government has awarded contract of thirty two billion across Niger Delta States to cushion the effects of oil theft in the areas.
The said contract by the federal government of Nigeria is to install a comprehensive metering system across all 187 crude oil flow stations in the country.
The approval for the contract came from the Federal Executive Council, chaired by President Bola Tinubu.
Note that faulty metering procedures, outdated instruments, and lack of advanced technology have been significant hurdles in combating crude oil theft in Nigeria. Also pipelines, wellheads, and flow stations have recently been prime targets for oil thieves.
It could be said that currently, Nigeria lacks a proper digitalized system for monitoring the metering of crude oil produced for export. The new metering system aims to rectify this deficiency, significantly boosting crude oil production and enhancing federation revenue.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, “This is the first time in the history of the country where a flow station will be having a digital metering system.”
“If crude oil is loaded from the cargo terminal, I can stay in my office and know when it is taken off from Nigeria, up to the final destination. With this technology, we’ll know from the beginning what we produce to the point of loading from a terminal up to the point of destination.”
He went ahead to say tthat; “Oil is still the fastest way to correct the funding we need to address our economic and social problems. One of the steps taken as a government is to ensure proper accountability, and that is why this project was awarded to be delivered within 180 days.“
